


Hopes & Fears

by InHisFrozenArms (Fenfade)



Series: Rooted Promises [1]
Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Childhood Trauma, Crack and Angst, F/M, Game 9: Mortal Kombat (2011), Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Later stories will be smuttier, Pre-Mortal Kombat 9, Pre-Relationship, References to Drugs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:15:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 26,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25986508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fenfade/pseuds/InHisFrozenArms
Summary: In this prequel for my Mortal Kombat AU series calledRooted Promises,18-year-old sheltered, yet philosophically-minded Kuai Liang goes to Outworld while on his second ever mission for the Grandmaster. An electric encounter between him and a mysterious Edenian lunar-powered mage turns out to be something more, and she just so happens to be the lost daughter of Liu Kang and Princess Kitana.Pre-MK9. Dark, Angsty Crack. OOC.
Relationships: Kuai Liang | Sub-Zero/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Rooted Promises [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1922920
Kudos: 5





	1. Frozen Thoughts

**_At the Lin Kuei Temple, December 5th, 2008_ **

Rural Illinois had no chance of getting any warmer, for autumn had already come and gone. It was cold and windy outside, perhaps even several degrees below zero. When Kuai Liang stepped out into the snow, he couldn't help but smile thinly. He knew by now that the temperature only ever got colder for other people because of him.

 _I hope this mission goes well_ , he thought, tugging at his jacket sleeves. Now formally known as Tundra, Kuai Liang stood outside the temple walls for the second time in his life. The last time had only been a week ago, when the Cryomancer had just earned his codename after defeating Kung Lao in Outworld. His reward? A series of scars over his right eye, thanks to being hit repeatedly in the same area with the Shaolin's razor-sharp hat.

Kuai Liang had originally been sent to Outworld to fulfill a reconnaissance mission on the Lin Kuei's behalf. As he stood outside in the cold contemplating his mission, he realized he didn't know the real reasons why he was being sent to Outworld yet again. Something had even changed for the Cryomancer upon setting foot into the civilian world, but at the same time, he also felt like he didn't have the energy to question the Grandmaster's orders. He wasn't used to questioning authority so openly, anyway. Sighing once more, the Cryomancer caught himself closing his eyes and licking his lips. The cold fog he breathed out had dried them out.

"You good, bro?" said a voice from behind, breaking Kuai Liang from his train of thought. He turned around to face his clan mate, Tomas Vrbada.

With white, flowing hair reaching broad, pale shoulders, Tomas had originally been found in Prague all alone about five years prior. Naked, and frighteningly emaciated, rumor had it that he possessed an uncanny ability to turn himself into fumes undetected, and when this turned out to be true, it made him expendable in the Lin Kuei. The Grandmaster himself had made it a point to exploit his power whenever he could. Of course, Tomas did not appreciate this at all, not only because he didn't speak English at the time, but because he felt like he was being used. Furthermore, he also felt incredibly out of place around everyone else, and Kuai Liang, shy and easily intimidated despite his martial skill, had been the only one to make a genuine effort to befriend him at the time. The two had become very close over the years, forging a powerful brotherhood that rivaled that of even Lords Raiden and Fujin themselves.

Now twenty years old, Tomas' codename was 'Smoke,' as the Lin Kuei was uncreative and the Grandmaster had felt this best represented who he was. "What a reductive, generic ass code name," Bi-Han had said at dinner the same night Tomas earned his colors and his name. Currently twenty-two, the elder Cryomancer had _always_ been the snarkiest of the half-siblings.

"I'm fine," Kuai Liang finally replied, smiling at his best friend. He had a tendency to be serious, regularly lost in deep thought about some random idea he'd conjured in his mind. His thoughts also had a tendency to regularly pile on top of the other, overwhelming feelings of panic occasionally rising to the surface the moment he found himself idle for too long. Most people who knew him often found him to be broody, often put off by the emotional intensity that silently surrounded him. The only time his presence was tolerated by the rest of the clan was when he kept busy, as hard work often brightened the Cryomancer's mood.

Tomas was perhaps the _only_ person who showed patience with Kuai Liang's deep thinking, however. One day, when Kuai Liang asked him why, the Enenra's response was a vague reference to his western zodiac sign, Aquarius. Kuai Liang on the other hand was a Sagittarius, and the two sun signs were said to get along very well in Western Astrology. Though not a believer in astrology himself, Tomas felt that their friendship was an example of two unconventional spirits joining each other on an adventure. "You're just as outlandishly strange as I am. _Every_ weirdo needs a sidekick," he'd added.

Though Kuai Liang himself was heterosexual, he felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Tomas' newfound bisexuality. The Enenra had recently come to realize that he was attracted to both men and women, having developed feelings for Kuai Liang at one point early on in their friendship. Of course, Kuai Liang turned him down, as he was only ever attracted to women, but their friendship had never changed. He'd even encouraged Tomas to embrace his sexuality no matter what anyone said, regularly shielding him from the homophobic comments some of the other men would say to or about him. For the most part, however, the Lin Kuei didn't bother Tomas about this. They knew better not to after he'd beaten Sektor, known for being the biggest instigator in the clan, to a bloody pulp after leveling a slur against him. It was a privilege to finally be able to avoid the worst of the discrimination he otherwise would have been experiencing by now.

As the Enenra looked at his friend, he felt his wispy hair fall into his eyes. Even without a full view of Kuai Liang's expression, Tomas could tell that the young Cryomancer was dreading something. _Maybe it's the mission_ , he thought. _He hates Outworld, and he's only been there once_. "Is it the mission?" he asked, reaching forward and placing a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Kuai Liang sighed, running a hand over his slick, black hair. Tomas had been right on the money, and there was a part of him that was bothered by it. Feelings were never the thing the young Cryomancer liked to discuss under any circumstance, and he'd be damned if his best friend forced him to talk about them _now_.

 _He already knows I'm on bullshit, so I might as well be real with him_ , Kuai Liang realized.

"Actually, yes," he admitted, sighing again as he shot his left hand forward to make a pole with his powers. The Cryomancer turned and leaned against it when he was finished, scrunching his nose as the snowflakes falling from the sky now swirled around him. Then he spoke again, this time hiding his furious blush as he avoided the vapor warrior's suspicious glances. "There's this girl I saw there last week when I was scouting the area prior to the mission, and something about her doesn't sit right with me."

The Enenra walked over to stand in front of his best friend. He placed his hands on his hips, looking at him with bewildered eyes. "A girl?" He couldn't quite believe that Kuai Liang was freaking out and brooding over a girl because of discomfort. He knew there was more than curiosity being piqued here, though he didn't dare say it out loud. He changed the subject. "An Outworlder, I take it.

"Presumably," Kuai Liang replied, now putting his hands in his coat pockets. "Or perhaps even Edenian. I mean, who cares, right?"

Tomas raised a brow. Shaking his head, he said, "The _Grandmaster_ cares, Kuai Liang. They're already watching you and waiting for you to mess up, so why keep pushing the limits?"

The Cryomancer shrugged, still leaning against the pole with his hands in his pockets. "Why do anything at all?"

It was an existential question, and it was also one the Enenra gradually had begun to ask himself. He didn't know how to answer it, merely looking at his best friend with a grimace. The Cryomancer often looked distant when he was philosophizing, his mind further than even the far-reaching arrow of the quiver his sun sign represented.

When Kuai Liang spoke again, he was surprised to find that his words dripped with sarcasm and resentment. "I was supposed to leave an hour ago, but as you might guess…"

"You're scared," Smoke finished for him. It was surreal how well-aware he was of the Cryomancer's turbulent emotional state. Brooding, thinking, ruminating, and moping were all things he knew Kuai Liang could add to his resume, if there even was one for an anxious mind.

Kuai Liang only glared at him. He hated it when anyone called his bluff, and this time was no exception. Instead, though, the Cryomancer looked up at the sky again and he took another deep breath. He found himself wondering if Tomas was out here to accompany him, or if it was to chastise him and make him second-guess himself.

He decided to tell the truth, even if indirectly. Confessing his feelings was not his strongest suit, after all. "I just didn't want to go there alone."

"Figured as much," replied the Enenra, nodding in understanding. Then he remembered the discomfort in his friend's expression when he'd rejected his advances. "Wait," Tomas now said with a pause. "You're not being weird about that time I confessed my feelings for you, are you?"

" _What!?_ No!" Kuai Liang yelped, his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "I apologize if my distant behavior made you feel like I was avoiding you, but you're still my homeboy no matter what." Then he sighed deeply yet again and took one of his hands out of his pockets. He looked at his nails for a moment, then pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "I was just hoping my brother would be the one to offer to come with me instead," he muttered.

Tomas was relieved to know that his advances (and the subsequent rejection) didn't mean the end of their friendship, and he knew how close Kuai Liang was to Bi-Han. The Cryomancers had always been attached at the hip as children, at least up until Bi-Han turned twenty and started thinking that his age made him wise. If anything, aging into another decade only served to increase the now twenty-two year old sibling's arrogance.

"Bi-Han's still in DC, just in case you haven't heard."

The ice-wielder raised his brows at that. "He was supposed to be back yesterday," he replied, both hands now out of his pockets. His fingers absentmindedly fiddled with the frayed hem of the blue shirt he wore beneath his coat. "What's with the delay? That's not like him at all."

Tomas shrugged. "From what I hear, he's cleaning up a mess Cyrax made. They were partnered up for the mission," he replied, now smiling at Kuai Liang. He thought it was best to change the topic, hoping that the trivial gossip involving Bi-Han and Tabari he offered might amuse the brooding man in front of him. It worked.

"No surprise there," Kuai Liang said, an eyebrow raised as he tried not to laugh. He was grateful for the temporary distraction from his feelings. It wasn't uncommon for Grandmaster Kai to send his older brother to clean up after Hónghuo and his yellow-garbed counterpart. "I take it Corny fucked up again," he said in reference to the Botswana's yellow attire. He'd always thought Tabari looked like a cob of corn.

"Isn't that all he ever does?" Tomas chuckled. Then he looked ahead at the empty road leading away from the temple. Snow covered the expanse of the horizon, rapidly accumulating as the fog clouded nearly everything past the quarter mile point. "Anyway, what are we waiting for? Let's get to Outworld."

"What's with the sudden excitement?"

An ornery grin appeared on the Enenra's face. "I want to see this girl you're talking about."

Kuai Liang grimaced. Begrudgingly, he grabbed the pole he'd been leaning on and magically absorbed the ice back into himself. Then he turned around, facing away from Smoke and closing his eyes. Mentally asking the Elder Gods to protect him and his friend, he opened a large, orange portal in front of them. Before they stepped through eerily lit magical doorway, he turned to look at his friend once more. "Under one condition," Kuai Liang said, his voice low and threatening.

"Which is?" Tomas looked at the man suspiciously. A glimmer of mischief lingered in his silver orbs. He could tell that the reason his friend was giving him a warning was because he hated being called on his bluff.

"I'm going to break some rules," Kuai Liang simply stated. Tomas' jaw dropped. He pretended to fish for his gray mask to cover his face with it in an attempt to hide his surprise at the young Cryomancer's bold statement of rebellion.

This was actually the first time the Enenra had ever truly noticed the rebellious streak in Kuai Liang. Since meeting the blue-eyed, onyx-haired boy years ago, Tomas had always thought of him as being withdrawn and inept. The Cryomancer had _never_ been nearly as outspoken as his older brother, so to see that he had rebellion in mind these days was a bit of a shock. Even more shocking was that Kuai Liang was so willing to go to a foreign place just for the sake of pursuing a woman he'd only seen once in his entire life. The Enenra shut his eyes and breathed in deeply, exhaling harshly as he opened his eyes again and looked up into the cloudy skies. "Anything else? It's cold as shit out here."

Kuai Liang gave him a sidelong glance, putting his hands behind his back. He stood in front of the portal and had already started to step through. Before he disappeared, he looked back at his friend and spoke in a quiet, but deadly voice. "Don't tell Bi-Han, or I'll break your neck," he said calmly.

With that, he vanished.

Still reeling from Kuai Liang's surprising remark, the Enenra could only blink repeatedly as he tried to register the implications of his words. He knew all too well how sick the man was of being told how to live his life, and the truth was that lately he found himself starting to feel the same way. Tomas shivered as he remembered what the Cryomancer had once told him about his father, Běijí Móguǐ during their training back in 2006. He remembered the pain in Kuai Liang's eyes when he talked about how the vicious man forced him and his brother to keep their feelings to themselves. Even his half-brother Bi-Han had been brought up to always follow the rules without question, only truly showing the full range of his anger upon the old man's death. The worst part of Kuai Liang's traumatic family experience was when the Grandmaster ordered Běijí Móguǐ to murder Kuai Liang's mother, Seren, in 2002. The cold-blooded man made sure his young boys never showed emotion, and Kuai Liang was the one who suffered the most because of it. His emotions often ran powerfully deep beneath his stern composure, and every time he showed any ounce of passion, joy, or even sadness, Běijí Móguǐ would beat him over and over again until the tears stopped running from his eyes. Bi-Han, on the other hand, their father treated extraordinarily well. Perhaps it was because they didn't share the same mother, but the man often spoke more positively of Bi-Han's mother than Kuai Liang's own.

Deciding to not think about his friend's traumatic past any further, Tomas simply shook his head. "Ugh, fine," he said, stepping through the portal. He couldn't stand to look at it, even if this wasn't the first time he'd ever walked through one. "Not like this can't get any worse than it already has."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8/21/20: Added a few lines of dialogue, revised and made a few corrections.


	2. Loud Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuai Liang meets the mysterious woman, and his desire to break free from his conditioning wins out in the end.  
> 8/21/20: Minor edits, additions and revisions made.

**_In Edenia, near the Living Forest…_ **

The music raged on and on, bodies undulating within close proximity as the bass pumped louder, harder, and faster. Sweat, pheromones, and perfume mixed with alcohol, vomit, and drugs permeated the air, and the Cryomancer couldn't help but look around in confusion. Even Tomas, who had remained silent since walking through the portal outside of the Lin Kuei Temple, warily glanced at all the people dancing around them.

"I think this is what they call a rave back in Earthrealm," Kuai Liang said quietly. He was assessing his surroundings, not knowing if he'd walked into a trap. Outworld was dangerous, and the one thing Bi-Han had always told him and Tomas was that when in Outworld, it was best to always stay alert. "Don't let them catch you off-guard," he'd say.

"No shit," Tomas replied, his head slowly bopping to the electronic beat. He realized the song sounded familiar. "This I think is a remix, but I've heard the original song before," he said, eyes widening. "It's called 'PopLockDrop.' Came out four years ago."

Kuai Liang said nothing in response. Rolling his eyes, he started making his way over toward what appeared to be a stage. The Enenra followed him through the crowd of dancing bodies, gradually finding himself wanting to pause and leave the Cryomancer behind so that he could join them. For a brief moment, Tomas even allowed himself to be carried away by a group of attractive young Outworld women, dancing with them for a matter of moments before a frozen hand suddenly grabbed his ear and yanked him away. Grunting in pain as Kuai Liang dragged him away from the crowd, the Enenra gathered himself. He eventually understood that a substance had been released into the air, and that inhaling it was causing people to lose their inhibition. For some odd reason, Kuai Liang was mostly immune to the substance's effects.

"Let's _go_ , Tomas," he said, still guiding his best friend forward. The two men did their best to ignore the gaggle of women grabbing them and trying to pull them back into the crowd. Suddenly frightened by all the unwanted attention, the Cryomancer kept shoving the women away. He did not want to be touched by any of them. This of course amused Tomas, who chuckled as the music stopped. Before either of the men could ask what had happened, a voice rang out into the crowd, shouting for everyone to make some noise and throw their hands up in the air. The music started up again, this time making everyone save for the two warriors scream even louder.

When the two Lin Kuei looked ahead to where the voice had come from, they noticed a black-haired woman with large bat-like wings standing behind a pair of turntables with her left arm pumping in the air. She was clearly spinning records, putting songs together and altering their sound while making the crowd dance. She was new to the Outworld music scene, known throughout the realms as Nitara. Of course, because Kuai Liang and Tomas were very sheltered and didn't get out much, they didn't know or recognize her. The social influence of those who weren't targets to be assassinated was irrelevant, and all they needed to know was who and how to kill.

"You don't look like you're from Outworld," said a voice. It sounded very smooth, though a bit rich, and without even seeing who it belonged to, the two young men decided they liked it. Within a matter of seconds, a woman dressed in rich purples and turquoise blues appeared before them. Though her clothing was anything but regal, her countenance certainly denoted aristocracy. They could tell she was Edenian.

Kuai Liang's face blanched, kicking himself for having decided to come into Outworld wearing civilian clothing. Then he remembered he'd already started to rebel. What really was the harm in going on a mission where he did not care to put in the effort to hide who he was? The ice-wielder was tired of hiding his identity, and frankly, something about this mystery woman's voice made him want to stop hiding forever.

" _Hello_ ," said the woman, smiling as she waved her dainty hands in front of the Cryomancer's face. "Outworld to random guy in fascinating clothing. Anyone in there?"

Tomas coughed, fizzling in and out of visibility. Not only was he uncomfortable, but he had been startled by the fact that this wasn't just any woman standing in front of them. He knew right off the bat that this was Princess Aya, rumored to be the secret lovechild of both Kitana and Liu Kang. Bowing in the traditional Lin Kuei fashion, he apologized for not recognizing her and for walking on her realm uninvited. There was a part of him that felt foolish for even assuming that she _was_ the princess, especially when there wasn't any proof. _Didn't I overhear someone in the crowd say she lives with Bo' Rai 'Cho?_

Kuai Liang's reaction was more intense. He gulped, ice rushing to his forearms as he thought about how to reply to this so-called princess. He was certain he'd never seen someone so beautiful in all eighteen years of his pathetic life. _What were the odds that we'd walk right into her?_ he thought. _If this even_ is _her._ Putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder, he tugged at him. A signal for the Enenra to stand. _The Lin Kuei never bow before anyone but the Grandmaster when on missions._

Part of him hated that he'd consciously chosen to rebel against the Grandmaster's wishes. He'd been trained all his life to follow the rules and to do as he was asked, without questioning absolutely any of it. However, when he looked into this woman's kaleidoscopic eyes, all of that somehow changed. He found himself _smiling_ at her now. When she returned the gesture, he awkwardly looked at the floor. Meanwhile, his best friend gagged in amusement.

"Oh, that's just _Toasty_!" said Tomas. He looked at Kuai Liang with a knowing grin. Witnessing the Cryomancer experiencing his first flirtation in the outside world was a very amusing experience. He made a mental note to make fun of him later when they returned to Earthrealm. _He_ has _to have the roast! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't give him shit for this?_

The woman chuckled, clearly enjoying the banter. She'd only just met these two men, and yet here she was lowering her guard in front of them. Her original intention when approaching them was to interrogate them, as she instantly knew they were Lin Kuei. To her, young human men tended to look like infants, and it was mainly because of this and their awkwardness that she could tell that Kuai Liang and Tomas weren't threats. Even though Tomas was the only one wearing a uniform, the Lin Kuei tattoo just behind his left ear was visible, which was also what had given him away. Moreover, the men looked far too confused and curious about the open world to even bother with trying to be cruel to whoever they passed. _They are clearly inexperienced, but why show up to Outworld with those tattoos out in plain sight? They are lucky everyone's too inebriated to notice them,_ she thought. It was true; if she had not spotted them first, someone else would have and the festival would have quickly erupted into chaos.

Then she noticed the hazy blue eyes gazing at her, as if peering through the very fabrics of her soul. Those same eyes quickly looked away.

Bodies continued to dance behind and around them, and as the music grew louder, the Edenian came up with the idea of taking them on a walk. _What's the harm? They would have killed me by now. Besides, I kind of like the black-haired one,_ she thought, smiling at the two assassins. "Your friend is adorable," she then found herself saying of Kuai Liang, who instantly blushed and started sputtering behind his coat sleeve. He _really_ wished he'd brought his mask…

"Adorable?" Tomas asked, indignation rising as he found himself on the side of rejection. "With all due respect, Miss, he looks like a frog." When Kuai Liang discreetly froze his foot in place, Tomas found that he was suddenly glad that the crowd of partiers around them had started to turn down. Their screams, hoots, and howls paired with the moans from the trees in the Living Forest was collectively giving the Enenra the creeps.

"Frogs _are_ cute, though," said the woman. She couldn't believe herself. Here she was, still a teenager by Earthrealm standards despite being a fully grown adult in Edenia and Outworld, flirting with two men who were clearly clueless when it came to courtship and women.

Kuai Liang blushed again, glowering at the princess as his best friend raised an amused brow at his expense. "I-I am not a frog, and I most certainly am not cute!" he said through gritted teeth.

The supposed princess ignored this outburst. She turned to look at his friend. "As I was saying, he's cute."

"Wait," Tomas now spoke up. He was baffled at how they'd made it this far without being attacked. He and Kuai Liang both had expected an ambush on the other side of the portal upon arrival, yet one never came. "You know we are Lin Kuei. You mean to tell me you're not going to try to detain or kill us?"

At this, the woman's iridescent eyes widened. "No!"

Kuai Liang and Tomas stared at her blankly. "Uh-huh," said the Enenra, skepticism crossing his features. The defensiveness spoke volumes.

"Okay, fine," she relented. "I mean, this part of the forest belongs to my adoptive father Bo' Rai 'Cho, and I was going to detain you," she admitted. She spared a glance at the Cryomancer as she finished her sentence. "But then I noticed your friend here looks far too confused to even pose a threat. Frankly, so do you."

Kuai Liang bristled, indignation rising at the very prospect of being regarded as not being a threat. _Fucking hate being so short_ , he thought, mentally berating himself for being only five foot nine. It wasn't fair that Bi-Han was already at his full height of six foot two. However, the Cryomancer chose to keep his mouth shut, quietly looking at his shoes as the Edenian continued talking to his best friend.

Tomas glanced at him, sympathetic at the man's sudden change of mood. The Cryomancer had _never_ been good at laughing at himself, and his serious demeanor was pretty much legendary in the Lin Kuei. _Though he was already sulking before we got here_ , he realized. "Fair's fair," the Enenra told her. "Either way, it's a pleasure, Princess."

She smiled at the Enenra, intentionally glancing at the nervous Cryomancer now pacing behind him. "How do you even know I'm a princess? Not every Edenian is royalty, you know. Though, I do have to ask. What are your names?"

Tomas blanched. They weren't supposed to reveal their identities to anyone outside of the Lin Kuei, and doing so would often result in the stripping of privileges. Of course, it wasn't like they had any to begin with. "I'm called Smoke."

It took a lot out of him, but the Cryomancer tried to muster the courage to look up at the woman. Looking at her with soft blue eyes, he stopped pacing and opened his mouth to speak. He closed it again when the words he wanted to say didn't come out. He tried again, this time allowing the words to flow freely, even if awkwardly. "My name is Kuai Liang."

_Rules be damned._

The mysterious Edenian looked back and forth between Kuai Liang and Tomas. The music still playing in the distance _almost_ made the Cryomancer look like literal magic to her, but then she kicked herself for even pondering such silly notions. She'd only just _met_ this guy! Who the hell did she think she was, flirting with some random kid from the Lin Kuei? _Papa Bo would murder me if he ever found out about me talking to a Lin Kuei warrior of all people_ , she realized, slowly backing away from the two men.

"I-It's been a pleasure to meet you both!" she stammered, backing away from them some more. Tomas and Kuai Liang looked at the woman with equally confused expressions as she started to disappear into a cloud of radiant, iridescent moon dust. "Walk in peace!"

Then a slap sounded, jarring the Cryomancer from his stunned silence. _"Ow!"_

"That's for telling her your name," Tomas muttered. "The Grandmaster is going to _kill_ you, Tundra!"

Rubbing the back of his neck, Kuai Liang curled his lip and glared harshly at his friend. Part of him missed the mystifying woman already, even though she'd just left. He mentally told himself to stop thinking about her. She and him could never be, and they'd never be a possibility as far as the Lin Kuei's rules of conduct were concerned. He needed to let bygones be bygones.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder, _what if?_ Though his interaction with the Edenian had been scintillating, he was growing far too curious about her to even fully care about the Lin Kuei's bullshit rules. He decided in that moment to listen to the rebellious part of himself.

"He can try," he now said, suddenly rising and getting in the Enenra's face. Though conventionally attractive in a literal sense, for he was pale in complexion, heterosexual, and male, Kuai Liang wasn't a pretty sight to behold whenever he lost control of his emotions. That was saying _a lot_ considering how much more well-behaved he generally was compared to his older brother. Bi-Han, frankly, was known for being cantankerous and rude, and even more so for being disrespectful to all who encountered him. Even the lost spirits in the Netherrealm didn't like being near the older Cryomancer.

"Oh, he's totally going to do more than just try," said the Enenra.

"I don't care about what Kai's gonna do," Kuai Liang said again, now stepping away from his friend.

The Enenra merely leaned back, looking at his best friend with a slightly amused stare. He could already tell the Cryomancer was about to go on another one of his rants.

"All he ever does is boss us around," the Cryomancer growled, now looking to the crowd of dancing bodies. "We're not kids anymore, and we're not even in America, so what the fuck, Tomas?"

Tomas sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Sympathy flooded through him as he looked at his best friend. He had to concede his point, because it was true. Grandmaster Kai was very controlling and far too paternalistic toward all of them. What was the harm in them having a little fun? "This is by far the worst birthday you've had, isn't it?"

Kuai Liang was about to continue his soap-box raving, but he quickly shut his mouth at the reminder of his birthday. He'd _completely_ forgotten about it. "Oh, fuck me," he said, realization dawning on his face. Was he really eighteen, now? He laughed out loud at the thought of still being alive at this age, especially considering their line of work. "Eighteen years, newly known as 'Tundra,' and still painfully incompetent at nearly every fucking thing I do, eh?"

Walking away from his best friend and heading back toward the festival, Kuai Liang found himself grinning languidly. He waved Tomas off. Music was still going on in the distance, and frankly, not being anywhere near the Lin Kuei temple had started to make him feel like letting loose a little.

"Yo! Where are you going?" Tomas shouted, now running to catch up with his friend. The Cryomancer was clearly determined, walking faster and bopping his head as he approached the crowd that still danced under the moonlit forest grounds. When he didn't answer, the flabbergasted Enenra realized that his best friend was far too caught up in the fantasy of forgetting himself and becoming one with the world around them. However, because this kind of behavior wasn't acceptable in the Lin Kuei, and because - more than anything - he didn't want to lose the only person who mattered to him over his sudden rebellious ways, he found himself jogging a bit faster. Tomas sighed; Kuai Liang was walking too fast for him. When he suddenly teleported right in front of Kuai Liang, he stopped in his tracks and looked into Tomas' silver eyes with a smile.

"Kuai Liang," the Enenra repeated, a stern expression on his face. " _Where_ are you going?"

"To dance," Kuai Liang said simply, putting his hands on his hips. The smile on his face had since become a smirk, though he tried to hide it beneath his longish black hair. He'd actually been trying to hide his sadness at the fact that he'd never seen live music before, let alone an attractive woman that was interesting enough to capture his attention. Kuai Liang really didn't think it was fair that Bi-Han and Tomas both already knew how to adapt to the outside world, whereas he continued to stumble over his own two feet. However, he was willing to try, even if it meant embarrassing himself. _Fuck it, it's my birthday. I'm going to do what I want, and the Grandmaster doesn't need to know._

" _Dance_?" Tomas repeated, his eyebrows raised. The idea of his best friend dancing at all was enough to make him shake his head. He couldn't imagine Kuai Liang doing _anything_ other than sulking and absorbing information from everything he read. _Maybe there's a romantic side beneath the frozen layers of his heart_ , Tomas thought, trying to think of things in a more positive light. _Unless that's just his inner rebel shining through._

"Yeah," replied the Cryomancer. He looked up at the night sky, wistfully recalling a pleasant memory from what little he remembered of his youth. "I've never danced before. Growing up, my mom used to tell us about all the concerts and festivals she went to in Europe back in the sixties and seventies."

Tomas suddenly got sad at that. It wasn't often that Kuai Liang spoke of his childhood, let alone his mother. The Grandmaster had ordered his father to murder her in 2002, after learning from a rival clan that she'd failed to keep silent about her affiliation with the Lin Kuei's breeding program. This was an inhumane program which matched virile assassins with fertile, attractive women around the world for the purpose of siring heirs to the Lin Kuei. This was how Běijí Móguǐ had met both Bi-Han's and Kuai Liang's mothers. 

The saddest part about Kuai Liang's childhood, in Tomas' honest opinion, was the fact that he was forced to leave his old life in Seattle behind. Bi-Han's mother Delphine, a Frenchwoman who lived in a small town in Washington State called Black Diamond and worked at a cabaret, had sent him over to Seattle while he was on a summer break from school. Běijí Móguǐ had called her one morning to invite their son over for a vacation so that he could spend time with Běijí Móguǐ 's new wife, Seren, and his two younger half-siblings. Kuai Liang's older sister, a shy, quiet white-haired girl named Xuě Bǎihé, was someone Bi-Han had never even met at that time. He'd only known about Kuai Liang. Of course, their father had only intended this vacation in Seattle to be a trap, murdering Seren and kidnapping the three children the moment she and the kids were all asleep.

Delphine, a known drug addict in the area, would eventually lose her life to Běijí Móguǐ when she soon learned of the events. She'd seen Běijí Móguǐ's mugshot all over the news during her shift at the cabaret, storming out of her workplace with the determination to save all three of the children, despite not having ever met them or their mother, Seren. Bi-Han may have been Delphine's only son, but her mother's instincts compelled her to try and save Kuai Liang and his sister, too. Following Běijí Móguǐ to the Sea-Tac airport, she eventually found him boarding a private jet. She fearlessly approached Běijí Móguǐ with a machete, angrily demanding that he release the children. She kept on pointing the knife at him, but Běijí Móguǐ did not care. With a snarl, he assaulted her and froze her in place when she attempted to stab him on the tarmac. Bi-Han, Kuai Liang, and Xuě Bǎihé all looked on in horror as the woman's warped, terrified face was the last thing they ever saw of the woman. It wasn't until they saw Běijí Móguǐ shatter Delphine's frozen body with a shove that the man told his children that they would be joining a guild in rural Illinois just outside of Chicago. Xuě Bǎihé of course got scared, attempting to escape using her suddenly accessible powers of Cryomancy she didn't even know she'd had prior to that moment. Angered at her insolence, their father tried to kill Xuě Bǎihé , only to fail when the frightened girl threw herself out of the plane's window right as it started to take off. Things would never be the same for the three Cryomancer siblings after that.

"It's whatever, though," Kuai Liang now said, sighing softly. Even after her death, Seren was a mystery to Kuai Liang. All he knew about her was that she immigrated to Wales in 1989, and that she'd been born to Welsh parents who'd somehow survived Nazi Germany during World War II. Tears started to well up in his eyes upon the reminder of her untimely death before he quickly turned them to ice and smacked them off of his face. The Enenra pretended to not notice as the teardrops shattered on the ground. "The past can't be changed. I just wish I knew where my sister was."

"Oh, _that's_ why you're out here," Tomas now said quietly, remembering the little he knew of Xuě Bǎihé. Kuai Liang never spoke about his sister much, either. All he had ever shared with Tomas was that she was his full-blooded sibling and also Bi-Han's half-sister. He was relieved to know that Kuai Liang's older sister had somehow managed to escape being killed by their father that fateful day in Seattle. The last update was that she had ended up in Outworld after everything, living a life where she was constantly on the run. The only reason Kuai Liang even _knew_ of Xuě Bǎihé's whereabouts was because she'd made it a point to write to him and leave the letter at a hidden location just beneath the Space Needle, his favorite landmark, in hopes that a future mission to the Emerald City would eventually lead them back to each other.

Except they never met again.

"Look, I don't know about you, but I'm bored of killing people for stupid political reasons," Kuai Liang stated outright. "But you're right. I shouldn't have told her my name, Tomas."

At least they were finally on the same page. Saying nothing, the Enenra smiled at his friend. "Well, then," he said, gesturing ahead of them. He smirked as the flashing lights at the festival continued brightening and going along with the beat of the music. "Shall we go dance and forget that we're Lin Kuei assassins for a night?"

Kuai Liang smirked. Taking off his black coat, he tied the sleeves around his waist. The baggy blue shirt he wore beneath it revealed his collarbones and parts of his chest, and he loved the feeling of the cool air against his skin. He wouldn't have even known this due to having a sheltered upbringing, but his outfit made him look like he belonged on the cover of a nineties grunge magazine. "Oh yeah," he said, now making his way toward the crowd. He had a free spirited look in his lake-like eyes as he turned around to look at the Enenra. "Let's make the best of it, because you know we won't get to do anything like this when we get back."

"Just so you know, though," Tomas replied, jogging to keep up with the Cryomancer. He held up a finger. "If there's drugs and alcohol, I'm going to try them."

Kuai Liang stopped in his tracks, turning to face his best friend with a quizzical expression. He didn't dare challenge his friend on this. "Oh. Uh, well..." He shook his head with a scoff. "I'll just have to keep an eye on you, then."

* * *

The two men didn't even realize that the Edenian woman had been lingering in the shadows, watching their spirited, yet tense interaction. _These two are so amusing to watch, but there's something special about the blue-eyed one. Why'd he even tell me his name? That was a trick question!_

Time, unfortunately, would be the only thing that would let the Edenian mystic learn the truth of what went on in Kuai Liang's head. Instantly upon their earlier meeting, he had proven to be the emotionally detached type, though a side of her felt that more went on beneath his silently intense facade. Not only was this an emotional risk, but there was also the fact that Kuai Liang was a classic example of how physical attractiveness could be wielded as a weapon. If he was _anything_ like what the Lin Kuei were reputed to be, then she'd have to tread very carefully. Furthermore, she'd never met or seen a Cryomancer before. What little she had learned was from her adoptive father, during one of their many evening conversations over dinner. He'd told her that Cryomancers could be dangerous, and that they were known to be brutal in their methods of killing people. These were ultimately the reasons why the Edenian had backed away from them. It wasn't intentional, but more so instinctual. Even from a distance, she felt like this ice-wielder was different from even the most lowly men of Outworld. Perhaps he was not nearly as cold as the rest of the Cryomancer race were often perceived.

_I hope he doesn't think I found him repulsive,_ she thought, smiling as she now watched them dancing awkwardly in the crowd. _Because he's oddly attractive, and I want to keep him._ As Tomas went the extra mile by incorporating his haze into his dancing, Kuai Liang twirled around, waving his arms loosely above his head. His eyes were shut as a serene smile -

"Oh, May Lord Argus spare me," she whispered to herself, suddenly clutching her chest. The idiom was often used thoughout Outworld and parts of Edenia (prior to Shao Kahn's present rule) during moments of surprise, and occasionally when witnessing a beautiful sight that was so overwhelmingly powerful it threatened to capture the heart. Her slender, yet strong fingers hovered over her mauve-painted lips, and it took everything she had to not make herself known to them. The cosmic moon dust that shrouded her during battle or teleportation threatened to leak, as if often did when she was overwhelmed by positive emotion. "He's even more beautiful when he smiles!"

Smiling wistfully, she summoned her purple fog, letting it consume her and shroud her in the power of the cosmos. Perhaps they would soon meet again…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The third chapter to this story will hopefully be published within the next few days. I hope you all enjoy where this is going so far. Please let me know what you think; concrit is also welcome!


	3. Breathless Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuai Liang and Tomas learn something in regards to Cyrax during their shenanigans at the festival. After Kuai Liang and Tomas are somehow teleported from the backstage VIP area, Princess Aya finally introduces herself and attempts to get to know Kuai Liang.

Denizens of Outworld in groups of more than twelve continued to groove together to the beat of the music. Nitara had long since left the DJ booth, a man with a shark mask now behind the decks spinning an Edenian nu-disco record. Nobody had ever seen or heard of him before, but the genre sounded like the perfect sound to close out an eight-hour festival with. Even the moans from the trees nearby had started to wind down as there was gradually less dancing and far more lingering and conversing. The festival appeared to be almost over. 

Curiosity about the Edenian enigma still lingered in the back of Kuai Liang’s mind as he stood off to the side near a tree, watching Tomas attempt to flirt with an Outworld dancer who merely ignored his existence. As the Cryomancer chuckled at the sight, he felt relief at how the fear of the unknown he’d felt for the longest time no longer seemed to influence his emotions. They were nowhere near the temple, so the rules didn’t matter. He’d actually been enjoying himself, the sheer happiness of becoming one with the crowd taking over his senses. _If only I were bolder, I would have asked her to dance._ Immediately, Kuai Liang shuddered at the thought. She would likely have rejected him, and the thought of this possibility made him _very_ glad that he’d never told her much beyond his name.

Meanwhile, Tomas found himself flustered at the series of rejections he endured, whereas multiple women kept on ogling the Cryomancer’s body. Some had even asked Tomas if he had social media, to which he laughed and said, “He would never shut the hell up if he did.” The Enenra may have been sheltered, but he knew all too well about social media because of Bi-Han and Tabari a few months back. The two men had been watching baby animal videos on a small portscreen, laughing at how cute they were, and to their complete surprise and relief, Tomas did not shame them. He actually _joined_ them and showed them his favorite animal videos, some of which included panthers and polar bears. Needless to say, Bi-Han mercifully did not leave frozen middle finger sculptures on Tomas’ night stand for a whole month. 

He would never admit it, but Tomas knew that Kuai Liang’s strong sense of responsibility would not stand in the way of his ability to let loose and have fun. The Enenra had encountered a drug dealer while making his way to the bathroom, completely inebriated upon meeting with Kuai Liang again at the largest tree at the far back of the crowd. To see the usually gloomy Cryomancer _finally_ lowering his inhibitions warmed his heart of hearts. All he wanted was to see his best friend happy, and it was a good thing that Kuai Liang certainly was experiencing bliss on the dance floor. Jet black hair was plastered to his neck and forehead as the sweat running down his torso made him look like the exact opposite of what was expected in the Lin Kuei. Lost in the sounds of the nu-disco, he wasn’t aware of the woman vying for his attention, or the fact that many of them had already been fighting each other for a better view of his body. 

Tomas felt a little jealous, though he decided that perhaps it’s good for Kuai Liang to be the center of attention for once. _He hates attention, but he’s naturally good at attracting the ladies. Bi-Han would be jealous._ To distract himself from his wounded pride, the Enenra tried about every substance he could find. It wasn’t a particularly healthy coping mechanism, but most of the drugs did nothing to make him feel good. Perhaps it had something to do with him being an Enenra, as he did not have the same physiology humans did. In the end, Tomas accepted that being high was not a possibility for him, but he still enjoyed himself. He decided that even though it wouldn’t get him drunk due to his immunity he preferred the flavor of alcohol best. 

“Dude, you were high as hell earlier,” Kuai Liang said, now walking over to him and draping his right arm around the Enenra’s shoulder. Tomas laughed, grateful for the euphoric feelings of not being anywhere near Grandmaster Kai and his oppressive bullshit. He took another chug of his drink, his moonlight irises glinting mischievously as the Cryomancer twirled a glowing stick he’d made with his powers in his left hand. The two looked carefree as they stood side by side with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders. 

“Yeah, but then it immediately wore off,” said Tomas, reaching for one of Kuai Liang’s ice sticks. The Cryomancer tossed him the smaller one, careful to not allow his magic to freeze his friend. He’d recently mastered the ability to focus his freezing ability on a specific object without freezing its surroundings, which impressed Bi-Han. 

“Bro, that’s a waste,” Kuai Liang replied, now removing his arm from his best friend’s shoulder. He turned around to stand in front of Tomas, raising his hands and stretching them over his head. As he did so, the hem of his sweat-soaked shirt slid up, revealing a small stick and poke tattoo he’d given himself. It looked like a planet of some sort, probably Saturn. Tomas couldn’t tell and he did not care to. 

“I know, right?” Tomas said, taking another sip of his drink. “I tried every Outworld substance available and none of them did anything for me.” He looked down at his now empty can and shrugged. 

Kuai Liang raised a brow, crossing his arms as he used his right hand to point at the can. “What about that? That shit smells stronger than cow piss.”

“Nope. This doesn’t do anything, either,” the Enenra replied. He scrunched his nose at the smell of the drink, which was pretty close to the manure he’d smell near the farms outside of the Lin Kuei temple. “Smells like shit for sure, but it tastes good.”

The ice-wielder rolled his eyes. He tossed his ice sticks onto the ground and stepped on them with his boots. “You have horrible taste, Tomas.”

“Says the one who waited for his eighteenth birthday to finally try to have a life!” Tomas retorted, frowning at his best friend. He chugged the rest of his drink, shoving the empty container into Kuai Liang’s arms. Though he wasn’t angry at the Cryomancer and completely understood his grievances, he quickly saw the look of hurt flashing through his friend’s blue eyes. Guilt started to set in, gnawing at Tomas like an empty stomach would a starving child. He looked down at his feet in shame, immediately deciding that the substances he consumed earlier _had_ affected him after all. 

The Cryomancer’s vibe fortunately had not been ruined by Tomas’ snarky comment, however. He just didn’t care enough to acknowledge the statement to begin with. Averting his gaze, Kuai Liang froze the can and crushed it with his bare hands. Tomas, still looking at his feet, watched the ice turning into slush between them. An apology was in order.

“Kuai Liang?”

Kuai Liang looked up at Tomas, his right eyebrow raised. Uncrossing his arms and letting them hang at his sides, he sighed and rolled his eyes before giving the Czech man a harsh glare. He did not care to listen to another one of his friend’s insults, even if he had technically been the one to insult his tastes first. “What is it this time?”

“I’m sorry,” said the Enenra, chuckling nervously and trying his hardest to avoid Kuai Liang’s glare. Holding out a gloved hand, he gestured to his friend as if to ask for a truce via handshake. “Honestly, I think the drugs might have messed with me a lot more than I’d realized.”

The Cryomancer let out a laugh, suddenly grateful for their friendship’s miraculous ability to endure even the most tense of situations. If there was anything their experience in the Lin Kuei had taught the two young men, it was that no matter what came, the Lin Kuei looked out for each other. In honor of their friendship, Kuai Liang clasped his best friend’s hand. “No _shit_ , Tomas,” he said. Muttering, he added, “You’re still a bitch, though.”

“Oh, shut up. You love me.”

* * *

Most of the people who’d attended the festival were already gone. Time often went by very slowly in Outworld, and naturally Kuai Liang and Tomas had no idea of what time it was. They didn’t seem to care, though. In fact, they were about to head to the nearest town in search of an inn for the night when one of the event’s organizers had stopped them. When Tomas cautiously asked the stranger what they wanted, the person revealed themselves to be Nitara’s assistant. The assistant told the Lin Kuei warriors that because they were the only two people in the crowd not being pretentious or trying to annoy Nitara with autographs, she felt the need to reach out. She’d also invited the two men because she wanted to smoke hookah with them.

The two Lin Kuei were very ambivalent about accepting this offer, of course. Not only because it was unexpected, but because this was Outworld and this wasn’t exactly an ideal place for them to be lowering their guard. Making things more intense for the two were the lectures from Bi-Han that played over and over in both Kuai Liang’s and Tomas’ minds. 

“What would your big bro think if he knew about this shit?” Tomas finally whispered to Kuai Liang. Fire pumped in his blood as he and his best friend followed the publicist further into the backstage area. 

The Enenra’s question caught Kuai Liang off guard. He had certainly been thinking of Bi-Han’s insights regarding Outworld, but the younger Cryomancer didn’t stop to consider whether any of it was founded in truth. He’d been too busy trying to have an adventure, yet this is where he ended up. He bit his lip as he kept his hands in his pockets, walking slowly until Nitara herself flipped down from the ceiling. She had been perched atop one of the bars above them, eyeing them intently.

Completely unsurprised, Kuai Liang could immediately tell upon meeting her that she was a vampire. Turning to look at Tomas, he shrugged. “He’d mock me for the rest of our lives, perhaps.”

“Is mockery the normal experience for you Earthrealmers?” Nitara finally asked him, not even bothering to make a formal introduction. However, when she flashed a grin at Kuai Liang, he shuddered and stepped away from her. He knew she hadn’t been looking for a fight, but there was still something in his blood that told him that getting too close to her would end poorly. Ice started to slowly cover his fingertips, slowly encasing his forearms as the human instinct to survive obviously had taken hold of his ability to consciously stop himself. Tomas, on the other hand, was unfazed by the gold-clad vampiress and did not take her presence so seriously. He leaned against one of the posts holding up the stage’s elaborate ceiling, tossing a grenade in his hand while he watched her and Kuai Liang size each other up. 

The vampiress had certainly noticed Kuai Liang’s instinctual fear of her. It was something she’d already grown used to, and also one of the reasons she did not have as many people in her entourage. However, she did not let this deter her, even as she realized that unless she wanted a fight, she would have to disarm him. _I’ll show him I’m being truthful,_ she thought. Holding up two hands in an attempt to placate Kuai Liang’s suspicious gaze, she said, “I know you’re Lin Kuei, and no, I’m _not_ interested in your blood,” she told them.

Kuai Liang paused, taking note of the way the woman’s bat-like wings towered over his presence. A dark red folded cloth draped over her left eye, with shoulder-length black hair cascading across her shoulders. Olive skin with bold makeup and sharp claws only added to her intimidating height. The red and gold dress she wore added to her charms. “Yeah,” he said slowly, shrugging as Nitara gestured for them to follow her into the backstage VIP area. “Even if you were, I doubt our blood would even taste good to you.”

The walk to the smoking chamber was mostly quiet. They walked past a series of gilded doors, noting the individual design differences on each of the doors in silent awe until they finally arrived at one that seemed more elaborate than the rest. In the middle of it, a cross had haphazardly been smeared with blood. 

The smell made Kuai Liang cringe a little. Though he’d taken lives before, he still couldn’t stand the smell of death. Nitara ignored his discomfort, however, opening the door to reveal a spacious smoking table made of ebony surrounded by plush black chairs studded with gold on the sides. The chairs were topped off with red and purple cushions, adding an overall vampiric feel to the smoking chamber. The hookah itself was a gorgeous sight. A tall, gilded rod with red velvet hoses and a gilded bowl flared out into a bell shape at the base. For a woman of Nitara’s status, the set up really _did_ look regal.

“Earthrealm blood is not something I particularly care for, no offense,” she finally said to the two men. Kuai Liang relaxed, grateful for the reassurance that the vampire wouldn’t kill him.

The Cryomancer and his best friend took a seat on the respective chairs, watching as the vampire DJ grabbed her portscreen out of her pocket. Nitara quickly tapped a series of commands, and when she found a lo-fi playlist she felt was worth smoking to, she placed it back into her pocket. When she was done preparing the herbs, she packed it into the bowl atop the hookah and covered it with a layer of foil. Before sitting down and testing the quality of the pack, she added a lit coal above the foil, which by now had holes poked into it for airflow.

“Ever heard of Vaeternus?” she finally asked them. She took care to not spill the wine in the goblet she had in her left hand while sitting in the chair across from the two Lin Kuei. She kept her gaze level with Kuai Liang’s as she reached for the hose and brought it to her mouth. Taking a long drag, she held in the flavored vapor and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she exhaled a large white cloud and flickered her eyes back to the Enenra, who shook his head in answer to her question. Though the two men couldn’t tell, they assumed Vaeternus was Nitara’s homeland by how proud she sounded when she mentioned it. 

Tomas reached for the third hose, bringing it to his lips as Kuai Liang folded his arms and leaned back into the chair. A normal teenager would be thrilled to be let in backstage by a music performer, but Kuai Liang and Tomas weren’t normal, and Tomas certainly was no longer adolescent. Though they both believed her declaration of disinterest in their blood, they still didn’t fully trust the woman. If she invited them for a smoking session backstage, it clearly meant she was here to deliver a message or a warning. They just had to figure out which one it was.

“Vaeternus is my home, and it was conquered once,” Nitara continued, her fangs gleaming in the candlelight. Gilded, three foot tall candelabras were stationed in each corner of the smoking booth, the candles on them all flickering in the darkness of the room. She set down her goblet on the table beside her with a wistful sigh. “But one of yours has helped me liberate it.”

Kuai Liang leaned forward, frowning as Tomas remained quiet. The Enenra had almost choked on the vampire’s implication that the Lin Kuei helped her free her realm. 

“One of _ours_?” asked the Cryomancer.

Nitara now opened her eyes, smiling at Kuai Liang. She felt it amusing how the confused, yet suspicious Cryomancer still didn’t seem to fully believe her. “Indeed,” she replied. Crossing her arms behind her head, she leaned back into her chair. The hose she’d been smoking from now lay neatly across her lap. “I didn’t know him for long, but Tabari was a great help.” 

_Cyrax met a vampire and freed her realm!? This is nonsense,_ Tomas thought. He was too stunned to speak, instead opting to continue smoking from the hookah pipe. Words weren’t enough to express his confusion at this point.

“Wait,” Kuai Liang had said to Nitara. As the only one seated around the hookah that was not smoking, it made perfect sense to Tomas that the Cryomancer would be the one to ask the difficult questions. Kuai Liang had been ignoring the hookah the entire time since he’d entered the room and sat down. “How do you even know Tabari?”

The Enenra had been watching Kuai Liang with a growing sense of concern. He did not say anything for fear of offending his best friend, but he noticed the vampire’s shift in body language. _Tread carefully, Tundra…_

“He was in Outworld doing business on behalf of Shao Kahn, and I guess he was so curious about me that he offered to help me.” Nitara shrugged, opening her eyes and looking into Tomas’. Not nearly foolish as Kuai Liang often was in regards to sexual attraction, he instantly figured that she’d seen the Cryomancer awkwardly glancing at the mysterious Edenian girl with the galaxy hair earlier during her set. 

“That’s not exactly an answer, but okay,” said the Cryomancer. “Got anything else?”

Nitara frowned. “You’re a very paranoid ninja,” she told him. Tomas clapped a hand over his mouth in an effort to stifle the laugh that threatened to escape him. The vampiress ignored the Enenra’s outburst and continued to speak. “We met at a trading post some time ago; I think it was for his first mission.” 

A pause. When Nitara spoke again, she raised her eyebrows. She remembered seeing Kuai Liang the first time he had come to Outworld. There had been something terrifying about the way he had clutched his face after being cut with Kung Lao’s hat that day, and she couldn’t help but to ask, “Does your master always send you to Outworld as a test?”

The Lin Kuei warriors couldn’t lie to the vampire if they wanted to. This night had started off weird, and it was already ending even weirdly. Nitara surprised them both by chuckling. It was rich and throaty, almost like honey. “That’s reckless. He should probably try to be a little more creative with your rites of passage.” 

The smile she gave them might have looked dangerous to anyone else, but there was something about it that seemed soft, almost maternal. She softened her expression as much as her fangs would allow.

“Look,” she said. “Tabari was willing to put his life on the line for me, a woman of a race dangerous enough to kill him on sight. Of course, I wanted to find that orb so badly that I let him help me, but somewhere along the way, I started to develop respect for his sense of honor. He had to return before I could properly thank him.” 

Kuai Liang knew that she was talking to him, but he was growing tired of the roundabout talk. He understood that her primary motive was to get a message sent to Cyrax, but he wanted her to get to the point. Crossing his toned arms and looking at her with a dare in his river eyes, he said, “Don’t get me wrong, I’m flattered that you found me interesting enough to bring me backstage, but why couldn’t you just track him down and thank him yourself?” 

“Because he is in Earthrealm and war would be the inevitable result of my presence,” Nitara told him. “That is why I plucked _you_ from the crowd.”

Tomas’s face now fell into his hands. This was beginning to sound like the beginning of the end for the both of them. He suddenly wished he’d never stepped through that portal… 

“Though my realm is free, it’s threatened again,” Nitara continued, as if the two men in front of her weren’t already uncomfortable. “I need him to try to make me a new orb with the technology your Grandmaster is acquiring for the temple and get it to me before it’s too late!”

Before either of the two warriors could formulate a response to the vampire’s desperate request, a powerful blood blast had the two men teleported back in front of the stage. They dropped out of the sky, groaning in pain as their bodies hit the floor. Neither of them had been expecting the party to still be going on, either. To see an empty lot suddenly become full of people again made both the Cryomancer and his friend feel very uncomfortable. It was as though no one had ever left!

Their impromptu meeting with the vampire musician had left them confused, and both men couldn’t help but to look at each other with dirty looks as they stood and helped the other to his feet. “You know what?” Kuai Liang said to Tomas as he dusted off his pants and untied his black jacket from around his waist. He shook his head as he put it back on and adjusted the sleeves. The Sun Do style of techno blaring from the stage managed to turn his confusing birthday into tolerable joy as his hands once again returned to his pockets. “I don’t even want to think about what the hell just happened, but I’m down for some people watching. Care to join?”

Tomas crossed his arms and shook his head. “Nah,” he admitted. That random meeting with Nitara had left him deprived of any joy. “I’d rather go back to dancing, honestly.”

Battling himself internally yet again as Tomas walked through the new crowds of twisting bodies, Kuai Liang questioned his own motives for choosing to come to Outworld wearing civilian clothing in the first place. Thankfully, his friend had already phased over to the opposite side of the festival grounds where he was too far away to make a joke at his expense. Dancing and chugging bottles of what appeared to be some Outworld variety of drink, the Enenra shouted out loud and appeared to let the music control him. He was swaying from side to side as his feet shuffled to the beat, eventually finding himself surrounded by a group of ladies who now purred and pawed at him. This at first boosted Tomas’ ego, but when he suddenly opened his eyes and noticed the possessive stares in their eyes, this frightened the grey-haired male so badly that within a matter of minutes, he evaporated into thin air. 

As the ladies gasped and bickered about his whereabouts, the Enenra suddenly reappeared next to Kuai Liang. The Cryomancer had been off to the side leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. He’d already had his fun dancing with a few of the random strangers much earlier that night, most of the dancing with a group of Tarkatan warriors who fortunately were too drunk to even recognize him as the younger brother of Bi-Han. _Everyone_ in Outworld knew him as the Lin Kuei’s most deadly assassin, a status Kuai Liang himself had not yet achieved.

“Fucking…” Tomas muttered, shaking his head. He tried to shove a Tarkatan woman away from him. Another woman screeched in anger as the Enenra gently moved her hands off of him. Looking at Kuai Liang with a pleading expression, he groaned, “I really can’t handle all this attention!”

Kuai Liang laughed, looking at his friend with a small grin. He uncrossed his arms and put them behind his head as he rested against a tree. “Yeah, well. That’s your fault.”

“Oh, come on!” Tomas cried. “Don’t be like that!”

Raising an eyebrow as he looked away from his friend, Kuai Liang’s grin got wider. “Hey, I’m just saying,” he said with a shrug. “You’re the one who decided to tag along without a formal invitation just so you can see me embarrass myself in front of a girl, remember?”

Tomas couldn’t hide his embarrassment as he realized that really _had_ been his original motive for following Kuai Liang into Outworld. “Oh, duh!” he said, smacking his forehead. He then threw his empty drink in the trash can far away from where they stood. It landed without a miss. Then he turned back to look at Kuai Liang. “I was having so much fun I literally forgot we were in Outworld,” he said.

Kuai Liang rolled his eyes and looked away, once more crossing his arms in front of his chest. The Enenra disappeared into the crowd yet again, presumably to go dance and talk to strangers about how strange the Living Forest was.

Already exhausted from the exchange with Nitara, as well as the sudden shift in his perception of time, Kuai Liang was glad to stay in his quiet little corner away from the crowd. With Tomas’ suddenly erratic behavior, the Cryomancer felt it was wise for him to continue keeping watch on him just in case.

“Oh, it’s you again!” 

Kuai Liang flinched, _hard,_ nearly hitting the back of his head against the tree trunk. Blushing furiously as he shook his bangs over his eyes, he really didn’t understand why he was acting like this around her. 

_First I meet a vampire that somehow knows Tabari, and now this._

Realizing the civilian clothing he wore turned out to be worth it, he pretended to not notice the Edenian passively admiring his physique. “So, uh,” Kuai Liang stammered, unsure of how to begin a dialogue with the woman. A hand went behind his neck with a grimace. “...Hi?”

The woman stepped closer to him, smiling coyly with her hands behind her back. Peering up at the nervous Cryomancer, she reached forward with her right hand and flirtatiously placed it on his chest. “You’re funny,” she said, shaking her head in amusement. Then she looked into Kuai Liang’s eyes. “Did your friend leave you?”

“I-I guess so,” Kuai Liang replied. Her hand was still on his chest as he nervously took a step backward. A trembling, calloused hand gently reached up and grabbed hers and moved it away from him. It wasn’t like he didn’t want her to touch him; quite the contrary, he was somehow fine with it. The truth of the matter was that he just _wasn’t_ sure how much of her attention he’d be able to handle. 

“Where did he go?”

This had actually been the first time a woman flirted with him up close and away from Tomas’ reach. “He’s probably embarrassing himself in the crowd, anyway,” Kuai Liang replied, now glancing at her hand, which she held over her heart. He wasn’t aware of the fact that her touch burned his hand like fire, as if he’d never been touched before. The sensitivity was too much.

The woman made a mental note of the man’s nervous tics. From the way he bit his lip and furrowed his brow whenever he spoke, to his tendency to fiddle with his hands, she could tell that this was a man with a lot of unspoken intellectual energy. She found it endearing how he stumbled over his words. 

“Why aren’t you dancing?” she asked, now moving to stand beside him. She could tell that Kuai Liang preferred to observe crowds rather than participate in them, and she wasn’t sure of the reasons why this was. Though she’d seen him dancing with his best friend earlier while hiding in the shadows, the Edenian mystic didn’t see it fit to bring it up. She knew she’d only unnerve him further if he were made aware of the fact that she’d been watching his every movement. _He would probably never smile like that again if I mentioned it,_ she thought with a slight blush. She’d really fallen in love with his smile, enjoying the way it lit up his face.

Kuai Liang thought about her question for a moment, scratching the back of his head and placed his hands back into his pockets. Why wasn’t he dancing anymore? It was a good question. “Today didn’t make any sense,” was his cryptic response. 

“Nothing about Outworld makes sense,” she replied, nodding her head at the crowd. Then she turned to look up at him beneath the thick, black lashes framing her eyes. “Besides,” she added, shrugging casually as she did so. “A handsome guy like you shouldn’t be alone.”

 _That is very forward of her,_ he thought, face reddening further under the princess’ playful gaze. He couldn’t tell if she was trying to get him into bed or if she was simply referring to the fact that quite literally, he _was_ alone in the corner of the forest. A wallflower, indeed. 

The Cryomancer did not know this yet, but it was a habit for the Edenian to taunt her playthings. She had _every_ intention of turning this man into her latest one, too. _But why in the world would she ever think to call me handsome?_ Kuai Liang thought, suddenly bewildered at the reality of what was happening to him at that moment. _All I ever wear other than this outfit is a standard blue and black uniform. If I’d worn it, would she still think I am handsome?_

Kuai Liang found himself unable to look at the woman. Here he was, a rebellious teenager with a cause he had not yet spoken into manifestation. What even was the cause? He didn’t know, so he turned away from her and avoided her steady gaze for what felt like a few moments. Then he risked another careful look into those iridescent eyes when he was certain the reddening of his face had subsided. “...I’ve never been called handsome before,” he finally admitted. This time, he did not look away.

The Edenian was very surprised to hear this. _Had he not noticed the women in the crowd trying to get his attention earlier?_ With the stark contrast of his black hair and blue eyes complementing his broody demeanor, she felt like Kuai Liang might have been royalty in a different life. There was something about the way he carried himself that captivated her. She even found that she liked the scars over his eye. What she didn’t comprehend, however, was why he was being so awkward about it. Then, she remembered the tattoo. 

_Right. He’s Lin Kuei._

Kuai Liang turned to face her again. The attention he was receiving was making him feel all warm and fuzzy inside, the unfamiliarity of it all becoming a little overwhelming. When he decided that he couldn’t take any more of the mystic’s staring and flirtations, he started trembling. She noticed, and pity took over her initial feelings of mischief. 

Impulsively, the woman took his hand. Carefully summoning a white glow which illuminated everything around them, she looked into his eyes. “I shouldn’t pester you,” she said. Shadows danced on the fine planes of the Cryomancer’s face as the glowing orb in her hand lit up his features. The ocean in his eyes suddenly became a place for her to drown in, except she wasn’t sure she was prepared for what lay within those depths. 

Kuai Liang breathed shakily, trying his hardest to take control of his heartbeat. The warmth still flooding his cheeks as he looked into her eyes threatened to make him lose his grip on reality. Never in his life had he met someone so considerate, unless this was merely another illusion. A major part of him actually wanted to run away and never look back, but an even bigger part of him told him to stick around and put in the effort to talk to her. 

_Break the rules,_ the devil on his shoulder said to him. _You’re eighteen, therefore an adult. Who cares about what the Grandmaster thinks?_

The woman spoke again, smiling shyly. They paid no mind to the party taking place in the forest around them. “But when anything or anyone catches my eye, I often find that can’t help but to try and see what they’re like.” 

Kuai Liang still didn’t understand why she’d be into him. He was scrawny, his hair was shaggy and an overall mess, and he had a gaze that often scared people because of how sad people thought he was. Peering at her through hooded eyes, he smiled softly. “I see,” was all he could say.

“I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable,” she said, now stepping away from the Cryomancer. The glimmering light she’d brought forth from the moons of her homeland lingered in the air between them, sparkling and adding shine to an otherwise dull, depressing environment. She sounded anxious, and the Cryomancer wasn’t sure if it was him or merely his standoffish behavior that was making her suddenly back off from him again. 

_People always try to get close, but then I freeze up, and they pull away,_ Kuai Liang lamented, brooding as the music in the background continued to blare. He blinked up at the Edenian, smirking shyly. He raised an arm to reach for the orb between them, surprised to not feel any heat as he touched it. When he put his hands back into his pockets, the weight of him pushing down in his pockets caused a sleeve from the baggy blue shirt he wore beneath to fall, exposing a clavicle. He hadn’t meant for this action to be flirtatious or anything of the sort, though part of him didn’t mind the reaction the Edenian enigma gave once more of his flesh was revealed. Like a cat waiting for the perfect opportunity to make her kill, her breath hitched. Her back arched slightly, and it became clearer that perhaps her attraction to him was purely sexual in nature. 

Sexuality was a strange thing for the Cryomancer. He’d never been intimate with anyone before, and he wasn’t sure it was worth going for unless genuine emotions were involved. He was quite sure he was monogamous, and he knew he wanted to be with one person, but this was the first time he’d ever felt this sort of strange feeling and it scared him. But, Elder Gods be damned, Kuai Liang _really_ craved something more than what he already had in this pathetic life of his. The more he looked at the supposed princess, who now shuffled coyly in the grassy patch of dirt in front of them, the more he found himself wondering if anything was worth risking for love. He’d never known love, and he wondered if he’d ever discover it at all.

“I would hope that you’re curious about more than just my…” Kuai Liang’s voice broke at the end, his shyness suddenly taking control of his ability to formulate speech again. _This is fucking ridiculous! Why is it so hard for me to talk to her?_

“Your looks?” she finished for him. She could tell he wasn’t the hit it and quit it type, though she suspected he had a dormant sexy side that if tapped into just a tiny bit, his inner incubus would unleash. _I’ve read enough on the Cryomancers to know about their stamina in the bedroom,_ she thought with a smirk. 

“Um, _yes_ ,” replied Kuai Liang. He sounded uncertain. “I don’t really know how to,” he gesticulated wildly with his hands and looked at her sheepishly through the hair in his face. Then he looked up with a sigh, dropping his hands at his sides as he now looked her directly in the eye. “Okay, okay. Talking to you makes me nervous as fuck.”

Finally, an admission she could work with. She knew he was nervous, even without him telling her, but hearing the confession from the Cryomancer’s mouth was a relief since it meant no guesswork. _Not often are men ever this honest, though,_ she realized. “Why are you so nervous?” 

Kuai Liang should’ve been used to the woman’s straightforward speech by now. Instead, he groaned, grumbling something under his breath as he shook his head and leaned against the tree behind them. He folded his arms across his chest, looking straight at the Edenian. Even from over there, she loved the ethereal glow in his azure gaze. “Why should I tell you?” he asked, with a slightly defensive tinge in his tone. “I don’t even know your name, yet I’ve told you mine. That’s not entirely fair, is it?”

The woman looked at him sympathetically, nodding once. “My name is Aya,” she said, a pep to her voice as she smiled. “For safety reasons, that’s about all I can reveal. Will knowing my name be enough?”

Kuai Liang breathed out a sigh of relief. It was nice to _finally_ have a name to match the beautiful face in front of him, because it made opening up a bit easier for him. Looking at the stars above them, he said, “You really _are_ the princess,” he said. “Well played. You had my best friend fooled.”

Aya let out a laugh. It had been easy to keep her identity under cover because of the fact that she wasn’t wearing her normal attire. “Yes, well, I’m sure you understand the importance of secrecy. The last thing I need is for the Kahn to know I’m alive, lest he hurt my mother. She’s already plotting against him.”

* * *

The festival Aya had hosted in the Living Forest was now more than over, and as they stood over the lunar orb and conversed for the first time, Kuai Liang had to admit that this was by far the most chaotic birthday he’d ever had. Keeping secrets were one of his main skills as a spy and assassin, but to see how common it was for Outworlders and Edenians to use the concept as a means of wielding power and furthering corruption frightened him more than he cared to admit. “Well, I wish you both luck,” he said. “But if you must know, I’ve never been out here before and I am not sure what to do. I am expected to do everything a certain way, and if I don’t, it’s a problem and I get punished. Sometimes I wonder what the point of it is.”

Aya couldn’t help but empathize with the young man. The feelings Kuai Liang had were all too familiar to many of her own. Responsibility and expectations were a burden she also had to contend with, the stresses of which often made her question whether or not she’d be as good a Queen as she knew her mother, Kitana, one day would be. 

Princess Kitana had secretly handed her off to Bo’ Rai ‘Cho after she was born to her and Liu Kang during a tryst that had taken place some time ago during one of the earliest Mortal Kombat tournaments. She begged the drunken master to raise her well and to teach her the ways of Edenia, which was the biggest Aya never had to deal with the oppression and abuse Kitana sadly had to endure while in Outworld’s capital. Shortly before Aya’s birth, Kitana ensured that all costs and expenses for her upbringing were taken care of. It was for these reasons that Aya had the privilege of being able to party and do whatever she wanted, while still being able to afford a bed and food for herself. _One day, she’ll free Edenia and give us our home back,_ Aya would often say to herself. 

The Cryomancer’s soft spoken words broke her from her reverie. “I’m pretty sure most men my age are off in college studying, dreaming about a domestic life where harm could never come their way,” he said. There was a sadness to his voice that broke her, but she didn’t have it in her to say anything.

“Your future is still yours,” she told him. “It’s not your fault that the world is confusing to you. It confuses me, too.”

It was then when Tomas had finally emerged from the dispersing crowd, a new drink in his hand and a lopsided grin on his face. His shoulder-length silver hair was pulled back in a ponytail, his gray and black Lin Kuei uniform long before discarded. It had been replaced with a grey V-necked tunic and a pair of black jogging pants. “Whoa, am I interrupting something?” he asked cheekily.

Kuai Liang really didn’t appreciate that Tomas had ruined what had been quickly becoming a special, intimate moment. Tomas continued gazing at his best friend as he took a sip of his drink, looking back and forth between both the Cryomancer and the princess. It was a _very_ smug look that made Kuai Liang want to freeze him.

However, Aya said nothing as she giggled at their interaction. She reached her hand out and absorbed the glowing light she’d summoned before, her very physique glowing in the night in a kaleidoscopic ray of light as she took it all back in. The music festival she’d organized was over now. What was left of the crowds were starting to head in their direction. A few drunken Tarkatans and Osh-Tekk passed them by, singing along to songs from Nitara’s set and talking about after-parties in Sun Do. _I wish I could linger,_ she thought sadly. With a wave, she smiled softly at the Cryomancer and his friend. “I should get going, but it was nice to meet you.”

Tomas raised an eyebrow, giving the Edenian a once-over. He took another sip of his drink, letting his floating hair hang around and over his eyes. “Nice to meet you as well, Miss.”

“Oh, of _course_ it’s been cool meeting you as well,” Aya said to the Enenra, whose face went red in embarrassment. “But I meant that for Kuai Liang.”

Kuai Liang, who’d been absentmindedly looking at his nails from his spot against the tree, looked up with wide blue eyes. “Me?” 

Suddenly, the Edenian was right in front of his face. _Oh, great,_ Kuai Liang thought. _Yet another one who can teleport._

“Yes, you.” the princess now replied, raising her chin in mock defiance. Though she hadn’t done much to change her approach, she was openly flirting with Kuai Liang again. His eyes were closed as if to control his response toward her advances, but her face was very open as she smiled. That childlike glee made her look free and uninhibited, and even the Enenra himself found it full of awe. Before Aya realized what she was doing, however, her lips had found the Cryomancer’s right cheek. 

Kuai Liang’s breath hitched as his eyes widened, arms dangling awkwardly at his sides. His chest started to tighten as he registered the kiss. When he turned to ask Aya what that had been for, she’d already disappeared.

“Well, hello, Romeo!” Tomas slurred, amused and somewhat annoyed. He knew better than to make fun of his best friend, but the look of disappointment on his face was too good an opportunity to pass up. _He’s probably just mad he couldn’t get in her panties._

Kuai Liang glared at him silently, saying nothing as he turned away. He picked up the pace as he started walking toward the city centre.

“Don’t get your hopes up on her, dude,” the Enenra said, now following his friend. The two walked side by side as Kuai Liang absentmindedly pondered the events that had just transpired, and his right hand was searching for the ghost of the beautiful lips that graced his face. Tomas wasn’t trying to ruin things for Kuai Liang, but because he was vulnerable to manipulation and inexperienced with love Tomas was only trying to protect him. 

Kuai Liang suddenly stopped walking. He looked at the floor, then again at his right hand. He looked stunned. “She kissed me,” he said, sounding almost as if he was going to faint. Though he doubted he’d ever see the princess again, the kiss had _definitely_ taken his breath away.


	4. Illuminated Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Despite Li Mei's desire to know more details of the previous night's events, Aya sorts through her thoughts at home in Sun Do. Kuai Liang and Tomas plot against the Grandmaster's oppressive anti-relationship rules halfway across town at an inn.

Aya was lounging on a plush wicker chair on the balcony of her home when Li Mei approached with a bottle of Outworld Wine in her hand. It was late in the day, the setting sun still shining brightly. The shadows of the large home in Sun Do where they patiently awaited the drunken master’s return grew ever larger with each passing moment.

“A few scouts report seeing a grey-clad Lin Kuei after the festival ended this morning, near the Living Forest,” Li Mei casually said to the princess, sitting on the wicker chair to her left. The purple-clad Outworlder gave Aya a pointed look as she poured some of the wine into her goblet. “He disappeared before I could send you to track him down.”

The princess said nothing as she grabbed the goblet from Li Mei’s hands. She took a sip of her wine, shifting in her fine wicker seat. She thanked the heavens that no one had witnessed the brief interactions between her, Kuai Liang and Tomas. If Li Mei had seen the princess interacting with Kuai Liang, she would have instantly ratted her out to Bo’ Rai ‘Cho. _Good to know I’m still in the clear,_ Aya thought.

Li Mei however noted the princess’ silence. A suspicious glance in her direction, she poured herself her own drink. “Weren’t you supposed to keep watch and apprehend any intruders?” 

_Shit! Clearly I’m not that good at hiding, even after all this training._

Aya cleared her throat, trying her hardest to not chug what was left of the wine. Outworld Wine was known throughout the realm for being very sweet. A favorite of her adoptive father, even he thought the rice wines in Earthrealm couldn’t compare to this. 

Li Mei sighed, shaking her head as she took a swig of her own drink. The silence from the princess spoke volumes, as did her suddenly tense body language. She watched as Aya set the goblet down on the table in front of them. “You know you’re supposed to be on the lookout for intruders no matter if it is just a party,” Li Mei reminded her.

Aya shrugged. “I _was_ on the lookout,” she said. It was true; before the Lin Kuei showed up unannounced, she’d been standing close to Nitara’s music gear next to the stage. 

“Then why are you looking so guilty?”

“I’m sorry, okay?” the princess said, closing her eyes. She took a deep breath, trying to find the perfect words for her white lie. Though she _had_ kept watch of the partygoers, she didn’t want to mention her meetup with Kuai Liang _or_ Tomas. Li Mei would lose her mind and tell Bo’ Rai ‘Cho, which would only result in a very lengthy training session as punishment. “What you perceive as guilt is really just me being very tired,” she finally said, opening her eyes and glancing at a very suspicious Li Mei. 

“I see,” Li Mei replied. She placed her hands on her lap, ignoring the drink in front of her. “Forgive me for assuming otherwise.”

Aya smiled, thankful the Outworlder had not caught on to her lie. “It’s fine,” she told her. Reaching forward and grabbing Li Mei’s hand, she clasped it in hers. “I understand you’re just trying to look out for me. But I was up late after the festival ended, trying to ensure no one had been left behind or hurt.”

This seemed to satisfy Li Mei. A soft laugh escaped her lavender painted lips as she squeezed the princess’ hand. “Very well,” she said. “I’m sorry I accused you of shirking your duty.”

“You’re always accusing me of something, Li Mei.”

Li Mei grinned. “That’s what sisters do, right? Anyway, how did everything go?”

Despite their differences, she’d taken to Aya rather quickly, seeing her as a younger sister of sorts. She even felt the need to protect the princess from the dangers of Outworld like most sisters do. Aya being Kitana’s daughter meant that she’d inherited the woman’s natural curiosity about the world and the people around her. Li Mei kept a close eye on Aya when the drunken master was not around; it didn’t matter to her that he trusted her enough to let her occasionally go off on her own.

Aya shrugged, unsure of how to respond. “It went well,” she said, lying again. She didn’t want to mention that the Lin Kuei her guardian sibling saw was actually a fairly friendly man named Tomas Vrbada. The princess felt that she needed to be careful with how much she revealed, as she didn’t want Tomas or Kuai Liang to get hurt. Or killed.

“See any cute boys?” Li Mei asked, a playful glint in her dark eyes. “You have several suitors interested in you, you know.”

The princess cringed. _I’ve been obsessing over Kuai Liang since he left, and now she asks me this? Gods!_ With a huff, Aya said, “The last thing I want to think about is the fact that virtually every man in this town is interested in me.” Thinly veiled annoyance suddenly tinted her tone. 

Li Mei noticed Aya’s annoyance, remembering that she didn’t like it when she brought up the fact that there were many men vying for her attention. Aya preferred to choose for herself when her heart was ready. Deciding that the alcohol she drank might have made her lose her sense of tact, Li Mei chose to let the conversation go. “I get you. Forget I asked,” she said, causing the princess to roll her eyes and put her now empty goblet on the table. 

Now making her way back inside the large living area of their shared home with the empty goblets in her hands, she called back to Aya. “I’m going to make my way over to the capital. Need anything while I’m there?”

Aya thought about it for a moment. Did she need anything? She wasn’t sure, but then again she was spoiled rich and had virtually everything she needed. There was no point in buying anything or even asking for something when there were people who could only dream of what she had. 

“Nah,” she finally answered. “Thanks, though.”

Li Mei smiled at her from the inside of the living area, now turning into the large kitchen. “I’ll see you when I get back, then.”

“See ya,” Aya replied. “Be safe out there, okay?”

Li Mei’s only response was a grin and a quick wave with her kunlun dao, which made the princess laugh out loud. Alone with her thoughts, Aya decided to spend the rest of the evening enjoying the sunset. She secretly hoped that Kuai Liang and Tomas made it to their mission safely. 

_Wherever you are, I hope the Elder Gods watch over you._

* * *

Tomas was sitting on the floor of the room they’d rented at the local inn in Sun Do, exhausted from the events of the previous night. He stretched his left leg, sighing as he felt the muscles pulling against his bones. A few cracks and pops in his knee as he shifted to his right leg were more than enough to awaken Kuai Liang, who’d been sleeping on the twin mattress across the tiny room. 

Kuai Liang groaned, rubbing at his eyes as he leaned on his forearms. The setting sun was of no concern to him, and he was still very tired. He hadn’t even considered the Edenian princess who fancied him, too exhausted to think about anything other than Tomas’ rattling bones.

“Sup,” Tomas said, opening his eyes and glancing straight into his best friend’s groggy and annoyed expression. “Sleep well?”

A swipe of the hand. “Shut up, old man,” Kuai Liang replied, flopping back into the pillows. 

The two men had already found and killed their target hours ago, only returning to the inn to get some rest before their return to Earthrealm. Their target had elbowed the Enenra pretty hard in his left knee, resulting in a limp that required Tomas to get off of his feet and travel as a smoke cloud instead. Kuai Liang had followed him to the inn, letting the smoke guide him the rest of the way. It was only because Kuai Liang was not in his uniform that they made it to Sun Do’s inn undetected. 

“What’s my age got to do with anything?” Tomas asked, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He found himself glaring at the Cryomancer, who now snuggled further into the blankets. 

“Your knees rattle like you’re eighty,” replied the Cryomancer, turning his head to face Tomas. From his position stomach down on the mattress, Kuai Liang cracked a smile at his friend’s annoyed expression. Then he closed his eyes and presumably went back to sleep.

Tomas scoffed and stood, careful to not let his injured knee crack again lest he hear another one of Kuai Liang’s age-related jokes. _I’ll show him what eighty year bones sound like by shoving my boot up his ass,_ he thought bitterly as he leaned down to pick up the pillow he’d been sitting on while stretching. Throwing it at the sleeping Cryomancer, he stuck out his tongue and made his way over to the bathroom. 

After Tomas showered and brushed his teeth, he grabbed his change of clothes and walked into the room’s kitchen to turn on the coffee pot. This was perhaps one of the nicest inns the Lin Kuei was able to afford, and he’d be damned if he didn’t make good use of all the utilities. They didn’t have most of these things at the temple, anyway. Especially not a coffee maker.

Kuai Liang woke up about an hour later, frowning at the sight of a very hyperactive Enenra. He walked into the kitchen, having been awoken by the smell of coffee, only to realize his friend had chugged it all. Tomas sat at the kitchen table, bopping his head as he read the local paper as he listened to some trance song on the radio. 

“So, when do you want to head back to the temple?” 

Tomas reached over and slapped the radio so hard it shut off. Then he looked at Kuai Liang in horror. Despite being so willing to tag along on his best friend’s mission, he did not look forward to the Grandmaster’s wrath should he learn of their procrastination. They were to kill their target and return immediately, yet they still lingered in Outworld. “You’re seriously asking this?”

Kuai Liang shrugged, pulling out a chair and sitting down at the table across from Tomas. Summoning his ice magic, he added a few ice cubes into Tomas coffee. “I’m not ready to return,” he admitted. “Even though I already know Kai is going to kick both of our asses and make an example out of us.”

“He might not have to, honestly,” Tomas mused, oblivious to the fact that his best friend turned his hot coffee into iced coffee. He reached over for the mug and was none the wiser until he took a sip and found himself spitting out the drink. As Kuai Liang roared in laughter, the Enenra scowled. “Oh, fuck off! Why’d you have to go and ruin my coffee, man?”

The Cryomancer continued to laugh as he stood and made his way over to the fridge. As he pulled out a few eggs and a couple of slices of ham and some type of Outworld bread, he smiled at himself. “Just trying to lighten the mood,” he replied, giving Tomas a sidelong glance as he started to cook the eggs on the stovetop. “Besides, you drank three pots of that shit. You’re going to give yourself a heart attack.”

“Twenty-year-olds don’t get heart attacks,” Tomas countered, pointing a finger at the Cryomancer. When he didn’t get a response, he rolled his eyes and groaned as he placed his face into his palms. All the Enenra could think about now was the Grandmaster. What excuse could they make for not having returned sooner? They’d be flayed alive! Making things worse was the fact that Kuai Liang wasn’t trying to leave any time soon. _Of course the woman has something to do with this, doesn’t she?_

A cold hand on his shoulder was more than enough to cause the hungover and hyperactive Enenra to flinch and scream in his seat. The fear he felt regarding the Grandmaster’s likely reaction to whatever excuse he came up with for their delayed return only made this worse. “Bro,” he said, smacking Kuai Liang’s hand off of him. “Can you not!?”

Kuai Liang laughed at this. “You startle so easily. Ease up on the substances next time, man.”

“Look, man. I’m scared of what the Grandmaster will do to us when we get home,” Tomas finally admitted, looking up at the Cryomancer standing behind him. There was a spatula and a skillet in his left hand, and he looked amused. Dodging his head, Tomas narrowed his eyes and added, “Get that fucking skillet away from me before you burn me with it.”

The Cryomancer sighed, walking back over to the stove to place the skillet onto the burner. The eggs had already been cooked, carefully placed between the slices of bread with a few more pieces of ham. There had been no cheese because frankly, Kuai Liang didn’t like the stuff Outworlders called cheese. 

“I’m scared too, bro,” Kuai Liang admitted, now taking a bite out of his food. “That’s why I’m not trying to leave just yet.”

“But he will fuck our shit up, man,” Tomas said, groaning and placing his forehead in his palm. He still sat at the table with the newspaper in front of him. “I don’t want to deal with another beating.”

Kuai Liang nodded solemnly, fully aware of Tomas’ fear of the Grandmaster. The Enenra always kept his head down and questioned nothing, which was mostly why the Grandmaster approved of him as Kuai Liang’s partner. In his mind, he thought that the Enenra could serve Kuai Liang as a positive role model. If only he knew…

“I think we should lie and say that we’d wound up lost and that it’s because we had been given the incorrect documents,” Kuai Liang said. He was referring to the contracts drawn up by the Lin Kuei’s Doombringers, who specialized in conjuring the documents approving of hits and assassinations. Sektor worked there, and Tomas instantly realized the opportunity. 

“Wait, you want to set Hónghuo up? Why?”

Kuai Liang put his sandwich down and nodded. “He’s the one who signed the contract, and we both know he didn’t even look it over when he handed it to me.”

“So,” Tomas drawled, catching on to his best friend’s devilish plan. He had to admit he liked the idea of setting up the Grandmaster’s next of kin. “We go back home, tell the Grandmaster we got lost in Outworld and show him the document proving that Hónghuo got the information wrong which caused our delay, and hope for the best?”

“Precisely.”

Tomas hummed, scratching his chin as he pondered the idea. Would the Grandmaster actually believe them? He wasn’t sure if it would work, but he was willing to try and see what happens. However, he wanted to know what else Kuai Liang had up his sleeve. “And then what?”

The Cryomancer grinned. “Nitara said some shit about new technology being brought in,” he said. He took another bite of his food and swallowed it. “Frankly, the fact that nobody told _us_ about it is suspect.”

 _It’s a valid point_ , Tomas realized. Kuai Liang and the rest of the Elites were the first to be in the know about any developments the rest of the clan had yet to learn about, yet this is news they got from a frickin’ vampire in the middle of Outworld. Clearly, the Grandmaster was hiding something from them. 

“We should find out what this technology is before we do anything else,” said the Enenra. “Hopefully it’s nothing worth being concerned about, but you’re onto something.” Then he narrowed his eyes at Kuai Liang. “What _do_ you have up your sleeve? You’re not the kind of person to go around setting people up without a reason.”

Kuai Liang shrugged, finishing off the rest of his food. As he stood to go wash his plate, he simply replied, “I’m tired of following all these bullshit rules Kai has without knowing what’s going on behind closed doors.”

“We all are.”

“True, but you appear to be more complacent than the rest of us,” Kuai Liang pointed out. “That’s why the Grandmaster always pairs you up with me. He thinks _I’m_ the sneaky one, when it’s actually you. This could be used to our advantage.”

Tomas frowned. “Did the chat you have with Aya last night loosen up one of the screws inside that head of yours, my dude?”

Kuai Liang couldn’t help but to laugh. “Maybe, but you know what?” 

“What?”

“This plan I have in mind? Whatever Kai and Hónghuo are planning for the Lin Kuei, I intend to disrupt it in the name of love.”

“Love?” the Enenra repeated. _This is insanity! What does Kuai Liang even know about such a thing?_ “Bro, I don’t know what you’re on right now,” he said, “but how is love going to help the Lin Kuei?”

“Simple,” Kuai Liang replied, not caring about his best friend’s suspicious mindset. “We protest Kai’s bullshit ass rules about how we aren’t supposed to date or do any normal civilian stuff, and we use that protest as a distraction to try and get into the Grandmaster’s office. Chaos erupts, because most of the Lin Kuei hates Kai as it is.”

Tomas shook his head, disbelief in his eyes. He couldn’t believe how rebellious Kuai Liang had seemingly become overnight. “I hope this works out for the best, because this is perhaps the craziest thing you have ever done.”

Kuai Liang said nothing to his best friend as he walked right back over to the twin size bed. Plopping down on it, he ignored Tomas’ skeptical commentary about his master plan to override Kai’s oppressive regime and smiled at the ceiling. He thought about Aya and the way he felt hope blossoming in his icy cold chest the more she lingered in his presence. 

_I may never see you again, but you’ve inspired me to do the right thing for once. Even if it kills me, Princess…_

Still tired from both socializing and the chaos of his birthday, Kuai Liang was determined to let his subconscious work out the rest of his plan to overthrow Kai’s rules on their relationships. The waking world? Well, for now that would have to wait. He intended to rest for the next several hours, anyhow, closing his eyes as sleep overtook him.


	5. Rebel, Rebel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuai Liang and Tomas prepare to return to the Lin Kuei temple. A certain someone catches up with them and offers to use their station to allow Kuai Liang's plan to go smoothly. The outcome is different from what they originally expected.

Kuai Liang shuddered at the sound of giggling that shrouded him in the depths of his dream scape. The giggling threatened to undo him as it followed him into the darkness of his soul, causing him to suffocate himself in the sorrow of his sins. Eighteen years of life wouldn't be enough to atone for these mistakes.

He wanted Aya, and he knew it was wrong to feel that way. Clearly, hormones were a motherfucker.

When he opened his eyes, Kuai Liang looked around the room to ensure Tomas hadn't been lingering about. There was a part of Kuai Liang that felt embarrassed at the thought of having these feelings for a woman he'd never known.

As the Cryomancer sat up and got out of bed to clean himself off, he saw a folded piece of paper had been left for him on the table. He grabbed it and read it while shutting the bathroom door behind him.

_Getting supplies. Try not to deep freeze this place._

_-Tomas_

Kuai Liang let out a loose chuckle as he tossed the note in the waste bin. The shower was enough to calm his nerves. Letting out a sigh, the Cryomancer thought of his plan to overthrow the Grandmaster's rule. How was he going to pull off such an idea when most people often got the two mens' names mixed up?

Most of the Lin Kuei had code names, and there were hardly any details of the Grandmaster's real identity available to the public anyhow. The name itself meant _ocean,_ which fit considering the man's natural inclination to water. Like an ocean, Kai had a tendency to drown everyone in his current of intensity.

That was it.

Kuai Liang would attempt to discover the Grandmaster's real name.

He shook his head and leaned against the shower walls, letting the water hit his back. Raising his arms to wash the shampoo out of his hair, he sighed and watched as the suds fell down into the drain. Drying himself off consisted of allowing his powers to turn the droplets into a mist.

After Kuai Liang dressed for the day and checked to ensure all would be prepared for the trip back to the Lin Kuei Temple that evening, he decided to sit on the room's balcony. There was hardly any light out at this hour. Originally he'd hoped Tomas would be okay with them staying in Outworld for a while, but fear won out. The Cryomancer begrudgingly agreed that taking a more tactical approach to getting this plan done would be best. He could only hope it all worked out.

As he reached for the key card of his rental apartment, Kuai Liang closed the door. He hoped the lack of evidence of their presence would be enough to get him and Tomas out of Outworld safely. Tomas had already agreed to wait for him near the elevators in the evening.

"Need a friend?"

Kuai Liang turned around and dropped the key card in his pocket. He narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck are _you_ doing here?"

"Man, shut up and stop being so damn loud," Tabari said in a rush, shoving Kuai Liang right back inside the previously locked inn room. "You're lucky Nitara told me you guys were here."

Kuai Liang's frown got deeper as he closed the door behind them. "I fucking hate Outworld so much," he said, annoyed. Shaking his head and shoving a chair in front of the door, the Cryomancer slumped onto it with his arms crossed.

"Where is Smoke?" asked the yellow-clad male. He ignored the rapidly freezing temperature in the room. "Supplies?"

Kuai Liang nodded, still frowning and cooling the room to the point Tabari had to put a jacket on. "We were going to meet back here within the next three hours after doing some scouting and head to the Forest. That's where we opened the portal."

Tabari raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Good thing I've arrived, too. Just in case."

"Cyrax," Kuai Liang warned. The room was cold as ice now. "What did you do?"

The Batswana warrior shrugged, teeth chattering as he smugly defied the Cryomancer's silent anger. "Nothing. But the Grandmaster sent me after you. That shit about your brother cleaning up my mess? A ruse."

The temperature by now was so low even Kuai Liang himself shook. He clenched his fists and punched a hole in the wall. The Grandmaster had intended for Cyrax to betray him while using Bi-Han as a target? Despicable!

_He didn't want me to know the truth, and had been banking on me staying longer. Tomas was right to try and get us to leave sooner._

For Tabari to break his oath to the Grandmaster was an unforeseen situation, however. By telling him the truth of why he followed them out into Outworld, Tabari had essentially outed himself as being on Kuai Liang's side.

Kuai Liang willed himself to raise the temperature back to a tolerable warmth. Tabari rolled his eyes once he realized his friend had calmed down.

"What does the monster have planned?" Kuai Liang asked. "What's he hiding from us?"

Tabari groaned. He didn't fear the Grandmaster like he once had, though he worried more for the young Cryomancer standing in front of him more than anyone. There was no easy way for him to reveal the truth.

"He wants to have us all cyberized within the next decade."

" _HE WHAT-"_

Turns out Tomas had been there all along.

"You're fucking kidding," Kuai Liang said, the temperature threatening to decrease again. Tomas and Tabari both were suddenly grateful to not be anywhere near the Lin Kuei base right now, for they knew Kuai Liang would have gone on a rampage. "It's bad enough we can't live normal lives or even have girlfriends."

Tomas was still fuming in the spot he'd appeared in. His arms were crossed in front of his chest. "I am not about to lose my soul for that man," the Enenra seethed.

"And he wants to steal our bodies, too?" Kuai Liang continued. He jabbed his finger at Tabari as if to make a point. "Fuck. That."

The yellow-clad warrior knew his friends wouldn't appreciate having the truth of the Grandmaster's plans dropped on them like that. "Tomas," Tabari said pointedly. "Stop hanging out inside random holes."

The Cryomancer was confused. Sure, his friend had flirted with many women that night, but there had been nothing more than casual banter. When had he slinked off to do something else?

The Enenra shrugged. "I stuck myself in a hole and almost died. Anyway, I don't know what brought this on, but what about the Grandmaster?" he asked. "We know he intends to turn us into cyborgs, but how can we convince him to stop?"

"Sex."

Two pairs of eyes were on Kuai Liang.

Tabari gasped. "How?"

"First he gets kissed and the next thing you know, he's thinking about sex," Tomas chided, earning a glare from Kuai Liang. Muttering, he added, "It's a matter of time before I have nephews..."

The Cryomancer growled at the joke. " _Nephews_!?" he repeated, gritting his teeth. "Bitch, I will _freeze_ you."

"How would sex weaken the Grandmaster, though?" Tabari asked again, blatantly ignoring his two friends' antics. "We know he likes strippers and prostitutes, but I'm not about to hire anyone for that."

"We could convince Bi-Han to show up with a stripper after a night time of drinking and see how _that_ plays out," Tomas sarcastically suggested. He knew the man was the player of the group, always boasting about the number of women he bedded. The Grandmaster always seemed to let the older Cryomancer slide when it came to him breaking the rules.

"Exactly. Bi-Han gets away with everything," Tabari said, answering his own question. "While Bi-Han does his thing, Kuai Liang could forge the documents and give them some random name, and make his demands law."

Kuai Liang grinned at the thought. He leaned against the door jamb. "Bold of you to assume my brother would be willing to be in on this," he said.

"I believe the Grandmaster has a stamp on his desk," Tabari mentioned, ignoring the blue-clad man against the doorframe. He looked around the room to make sure everything was packed and ready to go.

All Lin Kuei Elites knew of this stamp. It was the one that made privileges granted last long enough to create the few pleasant memories the clan would ever have.

"The one he uses when approving Sektor's department's contacts, yes," Tomas confirmed.

"Tundra," Tabari said, now standing in front of the Cryomancer. "Think carefully about what you're doing here."

Kuai Liang didn't need to. He'd thought this rebellion through by now. Subterfuge and coercion would be their go-to for this one.

Tomas shrugged. Warily, he glanced down and reached for his luggage. "Cryomancers are crazy. That's all I'm going to say."

Tabari ignored the Enenra and slapped a hand on Kuai Liang's shoulder. "Ignore him," he said.

"Hey," Kuai Liang started. "Does anyone even know the Grandmaster's true identity?"

"The Grandmaster's real name is actually Hóngrè Pìgu," Tabari said with a frown. He exchanged a glance with Tomas, who clearly had never heard the name before.

Kuai Liang's curious expression quickly transformed into one of amusement. He really could not help himself. Tears left his eyes as he laughed. He unleashed a few more cackles before sighing and looking at his two friends with a cheeky grin.

"His name literally means _red hot ass."_

Tabari and Tomas looked at each other, grimacing at the laughing Cryomancer. Shrugging, Tomas said to Tabari, "I'll never be able to look the Grandmaster in the eye after this."

"Can we please leave?" Tabari said, exasperated. He was the only one not laughing at Kuai Liang's translation. All the Batswana man cared to do was try to get back to Earthrealm and avoid the Grandmaster's wrath. It didn't matter what the man's real name was.

"Yeah, yeah. We get it." Kuai Liang said, opening the door and shooing them out of the room. "Get your asses on."

He turned to look at his two partners as they lingered in the doorway. Discreetly looking around to ensure no one in the hall was listening to the set of instructions Tabari would provide next, the trio started to make their way out of the inn and into the village square.

"Listen to me carefully," said the Batswana warrior, lowering his voice as they walked past several Sun Do villagers. Many had been wrapping up their evening duties. "I'm going to give something to Nitara along with some coordinates. I'll meet you guys at the Living Forest in an hour."

Kuai Liang arched a brow, narrowly avoiding a hit in the face from a passing woman's backpack. "Noted. But what's this _code_ you speak of?"

"The original data files for the Cyber Initiative I've already destroyed," Tabari replied, his voice still low. They turned a corner as the Enenra used some of his power to give the luggage a boost.

Kuai Liang dodged a large basket in the food district. He made his way toward the less crowded corner of the sidewalk, trying to keep up with his friends. "Good," he said. He was glad to hear they'd subverted the Grandmaster's plan before the rest of the Lin Kuei could learn of them.

Tabari wasn't finished. "I'm giving her equipment for an orb she needs to try and make in case she loses Vaeternus and needs to restore it."

Tomas sighed, turning yet again. By now they'd already left the food district of Sun Do. The western gates shouldn't be too far by now. "She needs to do a better job at protecting her realm," sniped the Enenra.

"And _you_ need to find a better hairstyle," said Tabari, slapping Tomas on the back of his head. Kuai Liang laughed at the joke and high fived Tabari as they continued making their way toward the city's gates. He had to admit he was grateful for the Batswana warrior's presence.

* * *

Li Mei was on the prowl. She kept herself hidden as she followed the Lin Kuei her spies had tracked earlier. The three young men seemed harmless at best, but there was something about their pattern as a group that seemed rogue-like.

 _They must be heading toward the edge of town,_ she reasoned. Most people didn't enter or leave Sun Do from the western gates. Why were they headed in that direction?

Determined to get a closer look at the one she suspected had captured her pseudo-sibling's interest, Li Mei continued to deftly pursue the three ninja along their path. She was careful to avoid busy intersections where they might spot her, relying heavily on the shadows of every building in the busy village square to shroud her.

The sounds of a baby that would not stop crying suddenly stopped her in her tracks. For a moment, she even thought she had lost the Lin Kuei, but she realized they'd stopped too.

Sorrow having been turned into laughter, she observed as Kuai Liang pleasantly stopped before a grandfather who'd been desperate to cool off his overheating grandson. The young Cryomancer crouched before the child, using his power to forge an ice mobile for the baby. It dangled above the stroller, twinkling in the sun as the baby reached for it.

A smile crept on Li Mei's face as she watched the humble Cryomancer quietly explain that the ice would melt slowly over the child and dissolve as a shower of light snow on a spring day. The grandfather was awestruck, grateful for Kuai Liang's help. The baby grabbed the Cryomancer's finger and let it go, cooing and giggling as his grandfather pushed him away.

It was obvious to Li Mei why Aya had taken to Kuai Liang. Not only was he charming in his own right, but he was willing to bestow a ray of positivity on a good day. Li Mei had only been following them to confirm what her spies had told her, of course. She had no intentions of sabotaging her loved sister-in-soul's love life.

She ended up going into a nearby bar after deciding not to follow them. There was no need. Li Mei watched the trio's silhouettes fade into the distance, marveling at how none of them seemed to hide who they were. It had been cute seeing them acting as regular men would while out on the town.

They looked like the regular men Lin Kuei would not allow them to be.

Whatever would be the price of their rebellion? Li Mei tried not to think about the boys' fate as she downed her pint of Outworld Wine. She kept drinking until Bo' Rai 'Cho finally arrived and sat down next to her.

"You look stressed," he told her. He took a large chug out of his canteen and belched, clapping his belly with a grin.

Li Mei rolled her eyes, recoiling at the smell of the drunken master's breath. "You are the embodiment of it."

The drunkard gasped, a hand on his chest as if insulted. "But Li Mei, how could you?" He laughed and dropped the facade. "I know, I know, I'm fucking insufferable."

Li Mei smiled. She took another drink of her wine and licked her lips, savoring the taste. "That's part of your charm."

Bo' Rai 'Cho chuckled and leaned forward, gesturing to the barmaid behind the counter. As she came by and took their order, the master asked Li Mei about her observations.

"You seem troubled."

She was troubled by Kuai Liang because of his association with the Lin Kuei. She did not want Aya to get hurt. It didn't matter that Aya knew how to protect herself with magic and in hand to hand kombat. To protect those who mattered most was simply a part of Li Mei's ethos.

"I am," she admitted. "Though he appears harmless, appearances are often very deceiving."

The barmaid brought over another flagon of Outworld Wine, setting it on the table. Bo' Rai 'Cho opened it with ease and poured half of the bottle's contents into the two large goblets in front of them. He handed one of the goblets to Li Mei after setting the bottle on the counter.

"Indeed they are. You are wise to remember that," he told her. "But you know how it is," added the master, clinking his flagon against hers and bringing it to his lips with a smirk. "Sometimes, it's better to let those we love figure that out for themselves."

Groaning inwardly as Bo' Rai 'Cho increasingly got drunker and more obnoxious, Li Mei continued on with drinking her wine. The master's farting did not deter her from daring to protect her beloved pseudo-relative from harm.

She knew he was right.

* * *

The Lin Kuei met up in the Living Forest later that evening. They were relieved to finally be returning home despite the dread in their hearts.

"Thank goodness nobody saw us," Tabari said, dropping his bag on the ground next to the others. Kuai Liang leaned against a tree, toying with ice crystals in his hands. Tomas sat atop his own bag, twirling a finger in his hair.

Kuai Liang yawned and stretched his arms. "I'm tired."

"We're all tired," Tomas snapped. "Get over yourself."

Tabari glared at the two. "Can't you two play nice for a change?"

Kuai Liang stuck his tongue out at his clan-mates and shoved himself off of the tree. "I don't play nice. Move out of the way so I can open the portal."

Coloring the sky with specks of rich indigos and oranges, it twinkled calmly and quietly above the clan's stronghold. The evening in Outworld quickly turned into twilight in Earthrealm by the time he, Tomas and Tabari had stepped through and exited the portal.

"Oh, fuck _this_ shit," Tabari moaned as they arrived in the American Midwest. It wasn't fair that Cryomancers had immunity to this region's frigid winters.

"Should've bundled up," Kuai Liang said, smirking.

The three ninjas trudged in the snow, two of them shivering the entire time. They were perhaps a good ten minute walk from the Lin Kuei Temple grounds. None of them spoke to each other in an attempt to conserve their energy.

It was surprisingly quiet when they finally arrived at the temple. The guards posted at the oversized doors did nothing to stop the three Elites as they approached. Tabari nudged Tomas as Kuai Liang opened the doors to the main hall. He could tell the Cryomancer wasn't too thrilled to be back even with his plans.

"Think we should call it a night?"

Tomas looked to Tabari. He'd also been keeping watch on the halls and its shadows as they walked toward their bedchambers. "Yeah, that way you and I can plan accordingly in the morning. Tabari got us home. That's what matters."

"Agreed," said the yellow-clad assassin. "In the meantime, I'll figure out an alibi and a diversion. Kuai Liang, his office is unlocked and unoccupied for the next hour. Be quick." He signaled to them with a peace sign before grabbing his bag and disappearing around the corner.

Tomas was about to open his chamber door when Kuai Liang yanked him by the collar.

"Everything that happens outside of the Lin Kuei stays out of the Lin Kuei," he told him. "You got that?"

Tomas laughed and shrugged him off before finally opening his bedroom door. "Whatever. Go forge those documents. I'm going to sleep."

Eventually arriving before his own chamber at the far end of the wall, Kuai Liang slipped inside quietly. He stepped around his slumbering elder brother with care. Bi-Han seemed blissfully unaware of his presence as he snored loudly on the floor in front of the open window.

The younger Cryomancer then dropped off his duffel and made his way over to the tiny bathroom stall in the corner. He washed his face yet again avoided his brother once more as he walked back to his storage chest to retrieve a uniform. Kuai Liang had changed into his formal black and blue garbs within the next ten minutes.

There wasn't going to be a way for him to sleep tonight. His mind was too busy with the details of his plan. Grateful though he was at Tabari's willingness to help, Kuai Liang knew the rest of his agenda required a carefully thought out approach.

It wasn't common for the Grandmaster to be in his bedchambers at this hour. He'd been out on federal business, apparently leaving the clan under Sektor's command. Kuai Liang took this as his opening to rummage through the man's desk, sifting through any and all documents containing Lin Kuei laws.

He sat down on the gilded desk chair, reaching for the pen in its equally opulent inkwell. Kuai Liang considered Tabari's words from earlier, about how everything would change from here on out.

Would writing out a set of demands that would be made law upon stamping it be enough? The chaos would begin as soon as the news was out, surely, but Kuai Liang was not interested in anything other than liberating his brethren.

He was also focused on not being caught.

With a sigh, the Cryomancer sat down at the desk and tapped the pen against his chin a few times. He looked around the empty office to ensure nobody was around. It was a matter of time before he wrote:

_Going into effect immediately, the Lin Kuei hereby decrees that its members are granted the human right to bodily autonomy. They are to be allowed entry into the civilian world with the ability to obtain jobs and careers outside of the clan. Uniforms are only required during clan events and ceremonies._

_Furthermore, the penalty of death for any who break clan rules is hereby revoked in honor of each individual member's humanity. A refined list of rules of conduct will be made available upon further discussion._

_Be stealthy as the night, and deadly as the dawn._

Kuai Liang bit his lip as he gingerly reached for the stamp. He couldn't believe he was doing this. Though this was technically illegal, the young man wasn't able to endure another night of allowing the Grandmaster to mistreat his friends. He refused to consider another thought as he slammed the stamp against the paper.

It was done.

All Kuai Liang had to do now was put everything back the way it was and leave the writ pinned on the announcement board and wait for the chaos in the morning. It was worth rebellion if he was doing it in the name of love.

* * *

The next morning was chaotic.

Already, Hóngrè Pìgu was angrily ordering his men to find the one responsible for reinstating their rights. The men ignored the Grandmaster, too thrilled with their sudden civilian freedom to care. The elderly leader swore and shoved merry, carefree Lin Kuei out of his path as he continued his attempts at damage control. It was to no avail. The assassins in the halls were enjoying the music blaring from one of the antechambers, laughing amongst themselves as they eyed their Grandmaster with interest. Some of them had also been smoking weed.

Eventually, the Grandmaster passed through the wing where all the mages and mystics did their studies and spells. This also housed the infirmary and ritual chamber, the latter of which had a small recovery room attached to it. Many of the halls in this part of the Temple looked like libraries. Stacks of books on ceiling-high shelves ranged from topics such as Chaosrealm Elemental Magick to Seidan Occult Wartime History. If the mages needed it, this expansive library hall probably had it. 

"Has the Grandmaster's anger anything to do with the commotion in the main halls?" whispered one of the mages in the ritual chamber when she saw him approach. Silver-clad, brunette and strong, Evra's magical expertise was in healing. She had been finishing up a healing ritual for an injured warrior when his presence was announced by some of the other mages who scurred into the room.

The other mage, a black-garbed woman named Rei, set up and lit the candles near the chamber's large window. Rei specialized in audio magic, often using her power to control what another could or could not hear, but today she had agreed to help her with her duties. She gave a signal for Evra to cover her hears. "I know," Rei replied once she cast her volume spell in an effort to cloak their conversation from the semi-conscious warrior on the table. Evra had a habit of speaking a bit too loudly during moments where discretion was needed. "They say someone forged a writ and left it on the board."

Evra had been about to levitate the warrior onto the plush bed awaiting him in the adjacent recovery room. When she realized the seriousness of the chaos throughout the temple, her jaw dropped. They'd both been part of the Lin Kuei for so long they didn't care about what happened in the halls anymore. Both women had seen it all. However, she had not expected to learn of _this_.

"Was it Kuai?" the silver-clad mage asked, now settling the unconscious warrior into his bed. Her dark braid fell over her shoulder as she tucked her patient in and checked his vitals. She wasn't sure, but she suspected it had all been started by Kuai Liang. She'd overheard him and Tomas when they'd arrived overnight. 

Rei frowned at Evra, tossing the match she'd used to light the last of the candles into a nearby waste bin hidden beneath the altar. "You really think it was him?" Clearly, she did not know how clever the Cryomancer was. 

The Grandmaster finally approached the chattering pair of mages as they continued to speculate on the one who had earned them their freedom. As he walked past them, unable to hear what they said because of Rei's spell, he felt his fury at the disorderly behavior in his clan rising by the moment. So far, everywhere except for the mage's wing had been in disarray, and the floors and walls were filthy. His men were creating a mess and he already ordered his maids and cleaners to do their job, though they did nothing to help for they celebrated, too. _Did Sektor have anything to do with this?_ Perhaps he should ask his relative. He eventually left the mage's wing and continued to walk past more happy, reveling Lin Kuei. Some sprinkled glitter in his face, while others laughed and dared him to take their freedom away. Some even called him a snake, telling him that the only reason they were still here was because the pay was good.

He hadn't expected the ambush when he finally approached the doors to the mess hall. A group of assassins, many of them still new to the clan, got into the Grandmaster's face before he could open the door.

"There he is!" jeered one of the men. The look on the Grandmaster's face was entertaining enough to warrant hoots and howls from the others, including some of the ones further down the hall. Beyond fed up with the insolence, Hóngrè Pìgu slammed a fist in the mouthy warrior's face, the impact from the hit knocking him over. The warrior insulted the leader as his friends held him up, though the Grandmaster merely scowled, looking at him with a silent warning. _There he is, indeed,_ he thought, narrowing his eyes as he shoved the doors open with his panther claw.

The energy of the room shifted when Hóngrè Pìgu entered the large eating commune. Whereas his assassins had partied and danced in the halls, creating chaos as they went, he immediately noticed the silence of the clan members inside the mess hall. were very quiet. These particular warriors were some of the more well-behaved, though a few were rebellious. Those who followed the rules no matter what watched their leader with fear in their eyes.

As for the rebels, well... They smirked and made bets amongst themselves as to whether or not the Grandmaster would kill Kuai Liang. Most of the men liked the Cryomancer enough to bet on his win, but a few had suggested that the Grandmaster was not to be underestimated. "He might kill him," one of the warriors had warned. "And we'll get to be the ones to see it!"

It wasn't long before Hóngrè Pìgu saw Kuai Liang, sitting in the back with his older brother. The Cryomancers had been discussing a book in French, which happened to be Bi-Han's third language. They'd been so engrossed in their conversation that neither of them had heard their leader approach.

"Tundra," the Grandmaster finally grumbled, an angry scowl plastering onto his face as he approached the younger Cryomancer. "Once again I am forced to discipline you," he told him. The anticipation of the others in the room only served to intensify the upcoming admonishment. Kuai Liang could feel the sweat forming on his brow as he attempted to hide his churning fear. The book in his hands fell to the floor, the quiet gasps and murmurs in the mess hall threatening to summon his anxiety.

Bi-Han quickly rose to Kuai Liang's defense before the Grandmaster could do anything to hurt him. Arms covered in ice, the older Cryomancer shoved Hóngrè Pìgu out of his face. "Leave. Him. Alone," he snarled, looking up at the Grandmaster with rage in his blue eyes. The older man towered over Bi-Han by about three inches, but this did nothing to frighten him.

Having originally taken on the name Sub-Zero to honor a long-fallen ancestor, Bi-Han no longer cared about what Hóngrè Pìgu might do to him. Sure, Kuai Liang could hold his own just fine. Bi-Han didn't doubt his younger brother's ability at all, but he would always look out for him no matter what. Even if it meant taking his place during punishment.

The Grandmaster narrowed his onyx eyes at the older Cryomancer's bold confrontation, unfazed by the attack. "Tell me, Sub-Zero," he said. "Does your brother still like whips?"

Kuai Liang could feel his arms freezing over at the thought. He _hated_ whips. They'd often been used as a tool to control him whenever he'd resist orders. More often than not, Kuai Liang would be punished for talking back. He had many scars to show for it, and he wasn't scared anymore, no. But he was still angry at the man for having tried to break him. It didn't matter to him that the whip had ever been used on him anymore. By now, Kuai Liang had already broken those chains. 

"Do _you_ like whips?" Bi-Han pointedly asked Hóngrè Pìgu, not appreciating the weaponization of his younger brother's fear of being controlled by another. "I believe you might have left the diamond-encrusted one in the sauna," he added with a raised brow. A small group of Lin Kuei acolytes sitting at the table in the corner burst into laughter at the comment. They'd _all_ known about the prostitute who'd arrived several nights ago to please the Grandmaster. The cries could be heard throughout the Temple as they took turns with the whip.

The Grandmaster bristled at this reminder, not at all appreciating Bi-Han's brazen remark about his sex life. He hadn't realized how much he had been trembling like a chihuahua by this point. "You test my patience, Sub-Zero!" he hissed, fists now clenching on both sides. The warriors listening by the window table still whispered to each other, all of them making bets on who would win if a fight broke out. A few had already bet on Bi-Han, while others bet on Kuai Liang.

In all of his years with the Lin Kuei, Hóngrè Pìgu had never expected the Cryomancer brothers to speak to him so disrespectfully. He was _the_ Grandmaster, therefore _he_ should be respected at all times! How _dare_ Bi-Han speak to him this way? Spit flew from Bi-Han's mouth as his head snapped to the side when a fist connected with the side of his head. Everyone in the room gasped and cried out at the impact, though Bi-Han did nothing but smirk as he slowly lifted his head to glance up at the Grandmaster. Staring into his elder's beady eyes, the Elite warrior spat the blood onto the Grandmaster's robe in _another_ show of disrespect. 

"That's enough!" Kuai Liang finally shouted. He slowly stood from where he sat, still glowering at Hóngrè Pìgu. Though he was grateful for Bi-Han's willingness to stand up for him, he was not willing to see his brother hurt for his own choices to illegally liberate the Lin Kuei. "Mock my fear of being bound all you want, but _you_ dishonor _us_ with your hypocrisy."

" _Me?_ " The Grandmaster asked incredulously. He pointed a finger at himself as he repeated Kuai Liang's accusation. "A hypocrite? How can an orphaned boy call me such when _he_ is the one who has gone behind my back and violated Lin Kuei code?"

Bi-Han shook his head and mumbled under his breath, rubbing at his mouth and snatching the book from the floor. With a grunt, he tossed it across the mess hall. It flew over multiple tables until it landed at the table by the front of the hall where Tabari sat with a few other trainees. He'd just arrived with a red cup in his hand, presumably from the alcohol stand in the hall way. Though he was privy to Kuai Liang's plans, Tabari didn't expect to walk into the mess hall and see him about to challenge the Grandmaster to a fight.

"Did I miss anything?" Tabari asked, now approaching the back section of the mess hall with the book in his hand. 

Bi-Han shrugged, his jaw still hurting from where he'd been hit. Stepping to the side with Tabari in tow, the older Cryomancer gestured to where Kuai Liang and the Grandmaster now circled one another slowly in the middle of the mess hall. They watched as their leader circled around Kuai Liang with a sneer.

"For _years_ , you expect us to kill for you," Kuai Liang finally said after circling the Grandmaster a few times. A few _oh nos_ and _here he goes_ echoed throughout the room as they realized the Cryomancer was about to _really_ lay into the Grandmaster for the first time. "For years," he continued, his quiet voice dripping with venom, "You bring women and others into the temple and lay with them, yet none of us are allowed the same luxury."

"You mean to tell me the rumors about Grandmaster bringing whores here is true?" asked one of the warriors near a table by the large double doors. She looked at Tomas, who stood against the nearby wall with a mostly neutral expression. The Enenra said nothing to the woman, merely nodding at her as he quietly rooted for his best friend. A major part of him hoped that Kuai Liang would win this one.

"For years, you tried to keep us under your strict control," continued Kuai Liang, emphasizing his point by slamming a kori dagger at the Grandmaster's feet. The room was deadly silent now, shocked at the Cryomancer's rising anger as he spoke. "You refuse to let us go anywhere at our leisure, be it for food, drink, or even entertainment. You steal parts of our pay, and even beat us when we accidentally get a target taken out by a rival, yet you're surprised that most of us sneak out during missions and break the rules behind your back!"

None of the cheers that erupted at these words subsided until Kuai Liang finally gestured uncomfortably for the people in the room to be quiet. 

Hóngrè Pìgu considered these words carefully, his ire invoked at the Cryomancer's accusations. Though they were all true, he was still the one in charge. Not even Kuai Liang could change that, even if he did steal his seal. "I should have killed you the moment your father brought you here," he growled, ignoring the kori dagger on the floor in front of him. "But fortunately for you, I value your power too much."

"Of course you do! You value anything that helps you screw another person over," Kuai Liang spat, now crossing his arms and sitting back down where he was before this all went down. He was tired of this. All he wanted was for his friends and brothers-in-arms to have some basic comforts if this was to be their lives. "It's all we are to you. Slaves. Servants."

"He's not wrong. _I_ got paid more working at the Chicago's Federal Center than I do working for _his_ old ass!" muttered one of the maids, Lania, who now casually strolled past with a broom and dustpan. She'd been cleaning up the mess the clan had made after they'd seen the writ. No one commented on the other comments Lania made about her employer as she swept up the last of Kuai Liang's now mostly melted dagger and left the room.

When Kuai Liang glanced back up to glare into the Grandmaster's eyes, there was a cold fire in his own. "Mark my words, Hóngrè Pìgu," he quietly said. "One day, you're going to find yourself wishing you'd never beaten me or tried to fuck me over." He hadn't really paid much attention to the mess hall, but those who agreed with his decision to stand up to Hóngrè Pìgu and hold him accountable while demanding the right to go outside and do as they wanted had been cheering him on. He could vaguely hear his name being chanted in the background.

The Grandmaster sneered again, disbelief in his tiny black eyes. He really could not believe the audacity of this eighteen-year-old boy. After all that he had done for Kuai Liang, and yet he was still ungrateful! "Is that so?"

Kuai Liang's blue eyes flashed in anger, his Sagittarian determination burning so hotly his forearms once again froze over in a luminous crystal blue. "You bet your wrinkly old ass it is," he said, causing everyone in the room to laugh at the remark. "Fortunately, I'm willing to bargain."

Bi-Han couldn't believe it. Hóngrè Pìgu had killed his and Kuai Liang's parents, yet Kuai Liang was willing to work things out with the Grandmaster? Unbelievable, but not surprising. Tomas or Tabari couldn't believe what they had heard, either. All three men looked on from their respective locations in the mess hall with shocked expressions on their faces as Kuai Liang boldly prepared to state his terms.

"My conditions are that you give _all_ of us our right to a civilian life," they heard him say as he gestured to Tomas with his index finger, "and I will not disrupt the Lin Kuei again."

The tension in the mess hall had thickened with this final request. The Enenra looked at the woman who'd spoken to him earlier, a knowing smirk on his face. Tabari casually sipped from his red cup, looking on with interest as Bi-Han himself watched with a hand on his chin. They all wondered how Kuai Liang was still alive, since he'd essentially earned the death penalty with his actions.

However, Kuai Liang had already vanished in a large cloud of smoke before the Grandmaster could give his reply. People coughed and gagged for moments upon moments until the smoke dissipated. That was when the Grandmaster had realized that Kuai Liang and Tomas were no longer in the mess hall. Barging out of the mess hall with an angry shout, he decided he'd have to speak to the Enenra later on about keeping a closer eye on him, since obviously Bi-Han could not.

"Well, now that _that's_ over," Bi-Han finally declared, deciding not to linger. "I'm going for a drink."

Tabari eyed him warily. He knew the chaos with Kuai Liang and the Grandmaster _wasn't_ over. It had simply been postponed. "Good luck."

Bi-Han waved him off, ignoring the laughter and the stares as he headed for the double doors. He didn't want to be around after watching Kuai and the Grandmaster verbally duke it out over something as trivial as clan rules. He'd been breaking all of the Lin Kuei's rules and regulations since he'd joined the clan, so this shit didn't matter to him as much as it did to Kuai Liang. "Bar's up the road," he said to the yellow-clad ninja. "I'll be fine."

"You always say that, yet you always come back covered in bruises."

"Shut the fuck up, Tabari." 

* * *

  
Hóngrè Pìgu sat at his desk, still angry at the day's events. He couldn't believe Kuai Liang's audacity to forge a document and then announce that he'd done it (let alone mentioning his reasons for it) in the mess hall. The Cryomancer clearly had a mind for politics, this Hóngrè Pìgu knew, but he did not know just how clever the boy truly was until earlier that morning.

It was now evening and Hóngrè Pìgu been waiting for Bi-Han to meet him in his office. About fifteen minutes passed since summoning the Cryomancer. Hóngrè Pìgu was about to send his secretary to drag Bi-Han from his bed into the office when man in question _finally_ barged in with a yawn and a bottle of wine in his hand.

"You have once again influenced your brother to wreak havoc in my clan!" The Grandmaster immediately shouted. He hadn't even waited for Bi-Han to slouch in the chair in front of the gilded desk.

A groan escaped Bi-Han's lips. He'd been drinking at the nearby bar and having sex with some woman. The smell lingered and the kiss marks were still all over his neck. The Grandmaster frowned at the sight, disappointed that the older Cryomancer did nothing to try and hide them. "I should have known you'd bring me in here so you can complain about Kuai again."

The Grandmaster stood angrily and slammed his hands on top of his desk. "Why would I not complain about him!?" he yelled, not caring that his loud voice was already giving Bi-Han a headache. "For _months_ that ignorant boy has riled up the acolytes over the ridiculous notion of love being a human right."

Despite the throbbing head pain, the Cryomancer had to laugh out loud at the accusation. "Look, man," he said, taking another swig from his bottle. He hoped the headache would go away. Bi-Han slammed the bottle on the desk and made sure to cross his legs and rest them atop the desk, too. "You're so stupid you don't even know that Tomas is the one who does most of the shady shit," he said, ignoring the anger in the older man's eyes.

As predicted, Hóngrè Pìgu's anger rose at the remark. Bi-Han knew he didn't get called into the Grandmaster's office for anything other than to listen to another one of the old man's rants about how his younger brother was a troublemaking rebel. Frankly, he was too tired to care and all he wanted to do was go back to his room and go to sleep. The Grandmaster quickly knocked Bi-Han's legs off of his desk with a swipe of his panther claw.

"Disrespect me again, boy," he said, "and I'll have your tongue."

Bi-Han, of course, stuck his tongue out at the man. "You won't do shit because you need me," he reminded him. 

"Get out of my office!" shouted the temperamental Grandmaster, suddenly fed up with these Cryomancers and their sassy remarks. Were they all so blatantly rude to authority figures? 

"Gladly," said Bi-Han. "I've heard enough of you for one day, anyway."

The Grandmaster ignored this comment. "Tell your idiot sibling to be careful of his footsteps," he warned. "The next time he steps out of line, I _will_ kill him."

Bi-Han chugged the rest of his drink and slinked further into the chair. "Is that so?" he challenged, placing his legs back up on the Grandmaster's desk. He ignored the growl that left the man's lips, not caring that the sight of his legs on the desk bothered him. "Kuai Liang is going to do what he wants regardless of my input." He would never admit this, but he'd been holding on to a silent feeling of pride for Kuai Liang every time he grew in strength in his ability to lead.

"Get your damn feet off my desk, boy!" Hóngrè Pìgu snapped again, knocking the man's legs off the desk another time. Surely his warriors' anger at being denied their basic human rights had led up to this point where disrespect surrounded him at all turns. How _else_ could he ever have allowed one of his Elites to sabotage things undetected?

"You think I'm scared of you?" Bi-Han suddenly asked the old man when his legs once again plopped onto the desk with a pointed glance. It was obvious that Bi-Han didn't give a fuck. When the Grandmaster didn't bother smacking his legs off the table this time, he grinned.

There was something about Bi-Han's words and demeanor that reminded Hóngrè Pìgu of that moment earlier in the day when Kuai Liang had thrown kori knives at his feet. The two men were powerful individually, and more so together than apart. He thought about all of the missions he'd sent Bi-Han on, and with a heavy heart, he came to realize that while his assassins were strong men, he couldn't shield from from the daily pleasures of life forever. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to admit Kuai Liang was right. He _had_ been harsh in his expectations, and he _had_ been unfair with his regulations.

It was time to loosen his grip.

"You shits are going to do whatever the fuck you want regardless of what I say, aren't you?" the Grandmaster asked at last, a defeated tone in his voice. He had not cared enough to answer the Bi-Han's question about if he thought he was scared of him. As much as his pride would never allow him to admit it, Hóngrè Pìgu knew he would have to accept that he was far too old to be even attempting to control a group of repressed, hormonal young men. 

"You shouldn't have lied to us about the benefits when we were recruited," Bi-Han said, now standing and leaning over the chair he'd sat in. The bottle of booze was now empty, dangling from his frozen fingertips as he gently moved it back and forth.

"Of this you are correct."

"Seriously? Just like that?" Bi-Han didn't quite believe the Grandmaster would say such a thing. "Someone pins a forged writ on the bulletin, and you don't even question it?"

Hóngrè Pìgu threw his hands up in the air, now standing up and shooing the Cryomancer away from his desk. "Just like that. Consider this a reward, Sub-Zero."

Bi-Han blinked in confusion as Hóngrè Pìgu started leading him to the doors to the main hall. "Wait, what?"

"Tell Kuai Liang I will meet his terms," grumbled Hóngrè Pìgu, shoving him to the door with his magic. He was massaging his forehead with his actual hands, the headache from arguing with his men all day now pounding. It was kind of cold in the room now. "And go the fuck to sleep. You're freezing the carpet."

The elder Cryomancer looked at the floor and awkwardly noticed what his leader had meant. He'd frozen the entire floor in his semi-drunken stupor. Unfreezing the carpet by the desk, Bi-Han didn't bother to bow or apologize when he left the Grandmaster's office. He high-fived one of his friends who'd been waiting for him out in the hallway, jogging to the other end of the hall and hooting loudly when he thought about the newfound freedom Kuai Liang had won them. He'd been so proud of his kid brother that he danced on his way to the lounge, which caused some of the younger boys walking past him to laugh out loud. 

"And let it be known that I will shove my foot up yours and Kuai Liang's asses the next time you two dare to start trouble in my temple!" the Grandmaster added, poking his head out of his office and pointing in the area where Bi-Han was moments ago. He cringed when he realized some of his men who walked past had stopped to bow. 

"All of you!" Hóngrè Pìgu ordered. "To bed!" He spent the rest of the hour grumbling Chinese insults under his breath as he skittered across the large hall, herding his men into their rooms.

"We're gonna call it the Heart-Thaw accords," said one of the acolytes still lingering in one of the nearby lounges once the Grandmaster had already gone to bed and locked the doors to his office. The young boy, Sen, was thrilled to see the writ on the board that morning. To see his clan brothers able to live their double lives in peace without so many restrictions on their personal lives seemed a bit daunting at first. Sen had to admit that the possibility of one day loving someone and perhaps even start a family of his own made him admire the sneaky Cryomancer siblings.

The acolyte's friend, Kim, raised her eyebrows. Having originally joined the Lin Kuei with the intent to strengthen her sorcery powers, the teenage girl had been eavesdropping the conversation between Bi-Han and the Grandmaster. "The name works," she said of the new law the Grandmaster had begrudgingly agreed to make law and finalize. "Kuai Liang's passion _truly_ thawed the Grandmaster's frozen will."

Unbeknownst to the clan, however, Kuai Liang had no interest in celebrating anything that night. After Tomas had teleported him out of the mess hall and back to his bedchamber, he spent the rest of the night sitting beside his window and looking at the stars. He thought about his life as the stars glimmered in the night sky, and while he heard his friends and clan-mates discussing the shit he'd started, he found those thoughts about his life turning into thoughts about all the changes he'd somehow brought to the Lin Kuei within only a matter of days. 

He'd never call himself an activist, but a renegade? _That_ seemed more likely.

Kuai Liang quietly trailed his fingers along the windowsill, his ice gently freezing the vines decorating his window. He continued pondering the things he would do now that his life was his, though a heavy feeling sunk in the pit of his stomach when he thought of Aya. Perhaps he was a fool for believing that a chance meeting with a mysterious woman in Outworld would make a significant difference in his life, but Kuai Liang knew in his heart of hearts that he'd done the right thing.

He had _every_ intention of pursuing Aya now. This time, however, it would be under completely different circumstances.


End file.
